Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V: Future Hearts
by chibiraidraptor
Summary: An Arc V AU with a slightly altered timetable which features the grandchildren of the last three Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonists. This story follows basically the story of the show with alterations by myself. (Currently in the middle of a prologue, just bear with me.)
1. Prologue 1: Hearland - Battle Zone

Ugly smoke grayed the sky and the lights of Heartland Tower. All Koji could see around him was fire and smoke and darkness. The only people remaining in this area were him and his two opponents. Everyone else had fled from the train station and the attackers had followed them.

Eiji Marufuji  
Life Points: 2500  
Hand: 3  
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)  
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)  
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5

Hitomi Marufuji  
Life Points: 1800  
Hand: 4  
Monsters: 0  
Spell/Traps: 2 (Cyber Network, Set)  
Active Effects: Cyber Network: Turn 2/3

-VS-

Koji Tenjo  
Hand: 5  
Life Points: 3000  
Monsters: 0  
Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)  
Active Effects: None

He drew himself in, ready to defend this place. He had programmed the controls on the train to not function unless a player using his disk was defeated. If they gained access to the train, they could bypass the defenses around Heartland Tower, and his comrades there were under enough pressure as it was. He could not lose, no matter the caliber of his opponents.

"Thanks to my Photon Escape, by banishing my Neo Galaxy-Eyes the Battle Phase is at it's end! That monster's massive attack strength is useless to you without a Battle Phase to use it in!" Yelled the blonde boy, green bangs and black coat fluttering in the shockwave of Photon Dragon's removal. Koji smirked across the battlefield at the blue-haired boy whose scarlet monster had just had its attack brought to a screeching halt.

He spat through his teeth in frustration. "So the little cockroach still has some fight left in him... We'll see how long that lasts. I end my turn! At this moment, the effect of Roid Berserker ends, which means my monster's Attack points and effects return to normal. Also, Extra Fusion's turn count ticks up one."

Koji clenched his fingers around the top card of his deck. He only had one shot at winning this thing. He needed to make this card count. "My turn!" He called, pulling the top card of his deck. Almost reluctant to look at such high stakes, he checked the card. Accellight. He smirked covertly. He might have a chance with a top deck like that. "I activate the Spell Card Accellight! With this, since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Photon or Galaxy monster straight from my deck! The thing is, I can't Normal Summon for the rest of the turn after Accellight is used!" Koji's deck shuffled itself in his disk, dispensing one card which he drew and showed to his opponents. "The card I choose is Galaxy Wizard!" Koji yelled, placing the card into his Duel Disk. Galaxy Wizard, a small figure with a large blue helmet and billowing cloak, appeared on his side of the field. It didn't look like much compared to Barbaroid, but Koji had a plan.

[Galaxy Wizard - Level 4 - ATK: 0 -DEF: 1800-]

"Then, I activate Wizard's effect! With this, I can increase Wizard's level by 4 until the end of the turn, making it 8!" Wizard glowed with a sky blue aura, its level jumping all the way to Koji's desired 8.

"Then, the Spell Card Galaxy Expedition kicks in! With Expedition, since I control one Galaxy monster already, I can Special Summon an additional Galaxy from my deck! The one I choose is Level 8 Galaxy Tyranno!" Galaxy Wizard pointed his staff and a wormhole opened next to it. Roaring, a large, glowing T-Rex stomped its way out of the hole.

[Galaxy Tyranno - Level 8 - -ATK: 2000- DEF: 0]

"I construct an Overlay Network between Galaxies Wizard and Tyranno!" The two monsters transformed into balls of light and disappeared into the rift that had formed between the players.

"Rank 8! Appear, Ultimate Galactic Dragon, Numbers 62! Darkness and light wandering the universe. Sorrowful dragon who sleeps in the interstice! Its powers of creation open the door to Truth! Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!"

Light erupted from the galactic rift. The blinding light changed from pure white to sky blue and Prime's familiar silhouette appeared in the light. The dragon roared and absorbed the remaining light into itself, solidifying and gaining the stylized number 62 on the left side of its body.

[Numbers 62 - Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon - Rank 10 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 3000]

"But I'm not done! Prime Photon! Join your brothers in form and purpose, and use your power to reconstruct the Overlay Network!"

Prime roared mightily and glowed. Its body turned translucent, leaving behind a glowing Overlay Unit in its belly. Then, the dragon's body dissolved to create the same galactic hole that spawned Prime. Prime's Material as well as the others flew in. "Xyz Change! Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon!" The glowing form of a winged dragon rose from the hole, gaining pieces of armor one by one until the glow was completely encased in a layer of grayish metal. Three glowing Materials circled it.

[Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon - Rank 8 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 3000]

"Now, Full Armor! Mow down her Life Points!" Koji yelled, pointing at the silver-eyed girl, "Full Armor Photon Burst!"

Galaxy-Eyes roared mightily, launching a massive laser beam at the unprotected girl. "I activate the effect of Cyber Network! With it, I remove one Cyber Dragon in my deck from the game! My target is Cyber Dragon For! With For's effect, when it's banished I can reduce one instance of Battle Damage to 0, but can no longer activate that effect for the rest of the turn!"

A red and silver serpentine machine wound around the girl, creating a barrier against Full Armor's attack.

"Full Armor has another effect! By removing an Overlay Unit, I can target a card on the field and obliterate it!" Koji assessed the field. Barbaroid was the obvious choice, no doubt about it. But that dead Cyber Dragon that represented Cyber Network would be all powered up during the girl's next Standby Phase the way it was going... He decided not to risk it. "Full Armor will destroy Cyber Network!"

Full Armor roared and launched one of its overlay units at Network, sending up a massive cloud of smoke.

Koji smirked, confident in his decision until he heard laughter from inside the cloud. When it finally cleared, his eyes widened in horror. Instead of destroying the card, the sparking circuits had made their way to the serpent's head and activated the scarlet eyes.

"You fell right into my trap! When Cyber Network is destroyed, I can Summon any number of cards removed from the game by it's effect! In exchange, they cannot attack or activate their effects and I lose my Battle Phase for the turn Network is destroyed, but that's hardly a cost now!" Yelled the girl. The now-repaired Cyber Dragon turned into white light and shattered, sparking into icons representing Cybers in her Banished Zone. "I summon two Cyber Dragons, two Cyber Dragon Dreis and a Cyber Dragon For!"

Two of the first white serpents, two gold accented versions, and a fifth with scarlet accents and a more Eastern looking head appeared under the silver-eyed girl's control.

[Cyber Dragon - Level 5 - -ATK: 2100- DEF: 1600]

[Cyber Dragon Drei - Level 4 - -ATK: 1800- DEF: 800]

[Cyber Dragon For - Level 4 - -ATK: 1600- DEF: 1000]

Koji spat through his teeth on seeing the results of his handiwork. "I set one card and end my turn!" Koji called out.

Eiji Marufuji  
Life Points: 2500  
Hand: 3  
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)  
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)  
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5

Hitomi Marufuji  
Life Points: 1800  
Hand: 4  
Monsters: 5 (Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Drei, Cyber Dragon For, Cyber Dragon Drei, Cyber Dragon)

Spell/Traps:

Active Effects: None

-VS-

Koji Tenjo  
Hand: 2  
Life Points: 3000  
Monsters: 1 (Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)  
Active Effects: None

"My turn!" Called the girl. She drew the top card of her deck, looked at it, and flipped it to show Koji. "I activate the Spell Card Power Bond! With Power Bond, I can Fusion Summon a Machine-type Fusion Monster using monsters on my field and in my hand as material! I fuse all five of my Cyber Dragons!" The five silver serpents swirled together and shone with bright light. "Ultimate Machine and aspects thereof, guided by the light and mechanical hum, combine your strength into a single raging beast! Fusion Summon, Level 5! Rise up, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" The girl chanted, pulling the card from her Extra Deck and placing it onto the field. A purple cubist central core with red accents appeared on the board, then, popping from holes in the central unit, came two, three, four, five silver mechanical heads. A single strong silver tail dropped out of the bottom of the torso and Rampage roared a symphonic roar.

[Chimeratech Rampage Dragon - Level 5 - -ATK 2100- DEF: 1600]

"Since Rampage was summoned by Power Bond, its attack power doubles, but I take damage equal to Rampage's original attack at the End Phase of this turn!" The mechanical beast roared again as its attack power shot to 4200. "Then, when Rampage is Fusion Summoned, I can destroy a number of Spell or Trap cards on the field up to the number of monsters used to Summon Rampage! Right now that number is five, but I'll just be eliminating your face-down cards! Go, Rampaging Burst!" The girl yelled, pointing at Koji. Three of Rampage Dragon's mouths opened, spewing white light which destroyed his Traps on contact. The light blew one of the shards up into his face and it cut his cheek on the left side. Full Armor roared in defiance, though Koji knew the dragon was doomed.

"I activate Rampage Dragon's effect! By sending up to two Light Machines from my Deck to the scrap heap, I can use Rampage to attack a number of additional times equal to the number of monsters sent to the grave this way! I send two cards!" The girl called out, placing Cyber Zero and Cyber Dragon Drei into the Graveyard. Rampage roared as the two dragons were absorbed into it's core, further increasing the heads extruding from the center.

Koji's eyes widened. Not only would he lose his 4000 attack point Full Armor, at this rate he'd lose the rest of his Life Points along with it. He took a step back and felt his heel clip onto open air. He looked back and saw he was at the edge of the tracks. He checked his hand. He had an option, but taking it would be difficult at best in this situation.

"Rampage, go! Destroy Full Armor!" The silver-haired girl yelled, "Rampaging Evolution Burst!"

Rampage roared it's symphonic roar and launched white lightning at Full Armor. Full Armor took it full in the chest for several moments before it exploded. The shockwave caught Koji, who stuffed the cards in his hand into his pocket, and sent him flying into the tracks. The tracks wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't open air. He bounced off the metal guiderail and fell into the lights and fires of Heartland City. He grabbed onto the side of the rail as he fell and hung desperately from it. He stared up, helpless as the dragon loomed over him. He faintly heard the girl call for a second attack. Too fast! He had to reach his hand. Had to get Kuriphoton... He twisted his body to reach into his pocket...

Suddenly, he was no longer holding desperately to the light rail, but instead floating among gentle, colored lights. Koji wondered if he had actually fallen, and the moments before now he had been falling to the ground and had imagined grabbing the rail - but he dismissed that notion when a flash of bright white light brought him back to reality. Koji was now standing on a highway overpass, paved but thankfully not in use, with a few others he recognized. Though Full Armor no longer stood by him, Hope floated around above the motley group, plus Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo and a few non-Numbers he didn't recognize. Yuukine was in a defensive posture, scarlet and ebon hair settling around his head after being disturbed by the shockwave of a failed attack. A group of non-Duelists were huddled behind him and a few other Xyz fighters. Quattro and Kiyomi stood shoulder-to-shoulder to protect a young girl cowering behind them.

"You're welcome, losers!" Yelled Kozuki Akira from behind Koji. She took off her goggles and set them behind her flipped bangs and pulled off the hood of her jumpsuit to reveal her scarlet and pink striped hair; then unzipped her jumpsuit, tying the excess material around her waist to reveal a black strapless top.

"That took forever! I almost got beaten!" Yuukine yelled to her, pretty angry about it, "Do you even know where we are?"

"Away from those Fusion freakazoids!"

They glared into each other's eyes at what, for everyone else, was an uncomfortably close angle.

Koji decided to break up the quarrel. "So, you two gonna kiss or..." he trailed off. Anna turned bright red and spun away immediately. Yuukine gave him a murderous look. "Good to know you two still have so much energy. We have company." On the other side of a large golden arch, white light blazed and Fusion warriors appeared. The duo that Koji had fought earlier were joined by a dark-skinned, well-muscled man Yuukine recognized, judging by his sharp intake of breath. There were three of the blue-clad "Obelisk Force" foot soldiers with them, each with an Antique Gear Hound Dog on the field. The blue-haired boy still controlled his massive red monster, and the older, silver-eyed girl had retained her powered-up Cyber Dragon, but the huge beasts had been joined by a huge monster Koji thought looked like some dragon he'd seen in Heartland Dueling History Museum... Osiris the Sky Dragon? The Xyz warriors crouched into ready positions, prepared to battle.

"Turn Time-Out Due To Inactivity. It Is Now The Turn Player's End Phase" announced the system.

"I activate Damage Oil!" called out the blue-haired boy, "when another player would take effect damage, I can negate that damage, then select a Machine-type monster on my field and give it attack points equal to the damage that player would have taken until the end of the next turn! I negate the damage from Power Bond and give the attack power to Barbaroid!" Barbaroid glowed scarlet and whirred ominously as its attack jumped to 6100.

"Right, 'cause he needed more Attack Points." Koji muttered.

Eiji Marufuji  
Life Points: 2500  
Hand: 3  
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)  
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)  
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5, Damage Oil (next End Phase)

Hitomi Marufuji  
Life Points: 1800  
Hand: 4  
Monsters: 1(Cyber Rampage Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: None

Alexander O'Brien

Life Points: 1500

Hand: 4

Monsters: 1 (Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, 4 Traps)

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: None

Obelisk Force x3

Life Points: 1600 x3

Hand: 2 x4

Monsters: 1 (Antique Gear Hound Dog) x3

Spell/Traps: 2 (Antique Gear Spark Shot, Antique Gear Booster) x3

Active Effects: None x3

-VS-

Koji Tenjo  
Hand: 4

Life Points: 2800  
Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 0  
Active Effects: None

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 4

Life Points: 1800

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Xyz Change Tactics, Set)

Active Effects: Onomatopia (2 Kattobingu Counters)

Quattro

Hand: 2

Life Points: 2200

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: None

Kazumi Kiyomi

Hand: 5

Life Points: 2000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo)

Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)

Active Effects: None

Shark

Hand: 2

Life Points: 1500

Monsters: 1 (Chaos Numbers 32: Shark Drake Veiss)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active effects: 0

Hurriedly, Akira activated her Duel Disk.

"New player joining. Turn prioritized." Akira's Disk lit up.

"I draw!" Akira yelled. She put on a strong face, but Koji could see her trembling hands. She added the card to her hand, then took another out of it and held it above her head. "Field Spell, Revolving Switchyard, go!" A slot opened up around the raised dome of the display in her Disk, and she dropped the card into it without hesitation. From the water behind them, an industrial switchyard rose up, cranes roaring to life. "I can now Normal Summon Night Express Knight! When Night Express Knight is summoned by this effect, his attack points become 0!"

A yellow train engine with a mechanized knight's upper body on the front like some kind of modern-day centaur raced out of one of the tunnels into the switchyard. The central dial, upon receiving the engine, tilted upward to give Night Express access to the battlefield.

[Night Express Knight - Level 10 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 3000]

"Next, when a Level 10 EARTH Machine-type monster is Summoned, Switchyard allows me to Summon a Level 4 EARTH Machine-type and make its Level 10! In exchange, I can't deal battle damage for the rest of the turn! I summon Ruffian Railcar!" A red, beaten-up car with an angry face on it appeared behind Night Express on it's track.

[Ruffian Railcar - Level 4 - 10 - -ATK:1800- DEF: 1000]

"With Railcar's effect, at the cost of my Battle Phase, I can deal 500 damage to one player! I choose... You! Blue-Hair!" Railcar shot lightning into the blue-haired player Koji had fought earlier, dropping his life points to a measly 1800.

"Now I use level 10 Railcar and Night Express to construct the Overlay Network!" Akira yelled. Railcar and Night Express' track arced down into the rift in space Xyz Summoning opens, followed shortly by the train itself. "I Summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!"

Out of the rift came twin sets of tracks which arced around behind Akira to position her card next to her. A tank the size of an average house trundled onto the battlefield and rolled up next to Akira. Gustav Max's cannon readied for use. Two Materials floated near the base of the massive tube.

[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max - Rank 10 - -ATK: 3000- DEF: 2000]

"Now I activate Gustav Max's effect! By removing one Overlay Unit, I can deal 2000 damage to one opponent!" Akira yelled. She pointed down at the blue-haired boy. "Gustav Max! Fire Gustav Rail Cannon!" One of Gustav's Materials flew into the cannon. The cannon angled to strike the blue-haired boy directly and fired, pale blue light blasting from the cannon.

"I activate the effect of Cyber Zero in my Graveyard! When a player's Life Points would be lowered, I can remove Zero from play to negate the damage!" Yelled the silver-eyed girl, pocketing the dispensed Zero. A lanky, winged form appeared around the blue-haired kid, shielding him from the blast.

One of the children tugged on Four's jacket. "Are they going to...?" He asked, eyes wide with terror.

Four looked down on him. "Not if I can help it." he said, reaching down and patting the boy's head. The boy grabbed a handful of Four's jacket and began to cry into it.

Akira looked at the floor. "Ruffian Railcar adds me a copy of Derricrane in the End Phase."

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized." Came the system's announcement. Shocked, Koji looked around, to no avail. The white, walled cities on each side of them stood, shining and unfeeling, watching the Xyz warriors suffer and die. Then he heard a loud whooping from above them, near the ring they stood under.

* * *

 **A/N: Dun Dun DUNNNNN.**

 **Well, that's that. Uhm, I don't wanna spoil anything for everyone, but I think my lore checks out. The fic is basically an altered timeline/general AU of Arc-V. As for the suicidal -3 play Hitomi made, well, the other Cybers weren't of use to her anyway and I dunno. Maybe she's high. I'm just the writer. Also, I know that Cyber Network does not work like that, however, I am taking some creative license with cards, same as the writers of the actual show. Since I debuted two custom cards this time, I'll post those here:**

 **Cyber Dragon For**

 **LIGHT/Machine-type/Effect**

 **Level 4 (heh heh)**

 **ATK: 1600**

 **DEF: 1000**

 **Effect: This card is treated as "Cyber Dragon" while it is face-up on your side of the field or in your Graveyard. When your opponent declares an attack: you can banish this card from your Hand or Graveyard. During the turn this card is banished, the next damage you would take from your opponent's card becomes 0. You can only use each effect of "Cyber Dragon For" once per turn.**

* * *

 **Cyber Zero**

 **LIGHT/ Machine-type/Effect**

 **Level 1**

 **ATK: 0**

 **DEF: 0**

 **Effect: When you would take damage while you control a LIGHT Machine-type monster: you can banish this card from your Graveyard instead. You can only use this effect of "Cyber Zero" once per turn.**

* * *

 **I should be doing one chapter a week pretty consistently, mostly on Sundays, so stay tuned!**


	2. Prologue 2: Team Neo 5D's!

"The way I see it, they're only military, they showed up second like they were pursuing, they're clearly the guilty party." Said Wing, face hidden by a dark helmet, "besides, look at that kid those two were guarding. That's not an invading force." He adjusted his seat on his matching bike, switching the leg he stood on.

Hiroka nodded, head similarly mantled in a red helmet with a matching bike. "You make a good point. Still, I'm not comfortable going in just yet. Wait up here until we know for sure."

They watched a massive tank's summon. A laser blasted into one of the warriors, but another pulled a card from her disk and stopped the attack. The girl behind them grabbed a handful of one of the boys' coats and buried her face into it. One of the others, blonde with green bangs, looked away from the battlefield.

Wing lowered his head, then pulled off the bike helmet, shaking out shaggy scarlet hair. He was holding back tears. He placed the helmet in front of him on his bike's dashboard. He pulled a Duel Disk up from under it, and before Hiroka had fully registered what was happening, he flipped over the front of his bike and activated his Duel Disk, free-falling down the center ring of Daedalus Bridge.

"Woo-hoo!" He whooped. The blonde teen looked up, at him, and from what the red-helmeted boy could see, he looked full of hope again.

* * *

Thanks to his implanted D-Gazer, Koji could easily hear the vague form falling from the top of the ring in the center of the highway. Judging from how he was facing, he was an ally, but who was he? Closer inspection revealed he had slightly overlong bright scarlet hair under black tones, and wore a black and gray coat with black and gray wings starting at the mid back and going up through the middle of his upper arms. "Who…?" He questioned.

"I draw!" He yelled out, tearing a card from his strange Duel Disk. It was parallel to his arm, and unlike newer Disks and their opponents' gear, it was made of the traditional, and very corporeal, metal. "First I Summon Dragunity Tribus from my hand!" The boy yelled. A four winged man with a bird beak over his head holding a feather in either hand flew up next to the boy.

[Dragunity Tribus -Level 1 - -ATK:500- DEF:300]

Running to the rail, Yuukine grasped it tightly and yelled, "What are you doing?! You're gonna lose like that, moron!"

He's not wrong, Koji thought, still, I doubt one Normal Summon is the end of his play.

"Next, Tribus' effect activates sending Dragunity Phalanx from my deck to my Graveyard!" yelled the teen, ignoring the boy screaming from the highway. "By sending Tribus from my field to the Graveyard, I can special summon Dragunity Arma Mystletainn from my hand!" A gilded dragon brandishing a sword materialized.

[Dragunity Arma Mystletainn - Level 6 - -ATK:2100- DEF: 1500]

"Next, the effect of Dragunity Arma Mystletainn activates! With this, I can select a Dragon-type Dragunity from the Graveyard and equip it to Mystletainn! The card I choose is Dragunity Phalanx!" Mystletainn roared and held its clawed left arm out. Phalanx appeared out of a purple vortex. The smaller purple dragon glowed with gilded light, then shattered into motes, reforming into a whirling disk of golden light. The disk flew to Mystletainn's outstretched claws. The dragon arced Phalanx across its body before Koji registered the weapon was, in fact, a golden spear. The dragon spun the weapon over its head, then brandished the pike at the Fusion fighters. "But it won't stay equipped for long! Phalanx's effect will change it back to a monster!" Mystletainn threw the spear, which shattered back into Dragunity Phalanx mid-air.

[Dragunity Phalanx - Level 2 - -ATK: 500- DEF: 1100]

"Next, I Tune Level 2 Dragunity Phalanx to Level 6 Dragunity Arma Mystletainn!"

Tune? The hell is Tune?

"Dude, I don't know what you're trying to do, but those monsters are nowhere NEAR the same level!" Yuukine yelled up.

Phalanx flew into the sky, roared, and dissolved into two green circles, which fell around Arma's long body. When Arma was enveloped by the circles, his body dissolved into a silver outline, with 6 smaller lights inside.

Levels, Koji realized, he was adding Levels. His suspicion was confirmed a moment later when "2-star + 6-star = 8-star" flashed across the bottom of his vision. Judging by Yuukine's sharp gasp, he saw it as well.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black Feather Dragon!" the boy yelled. A column of pure white light encompassed Arma inside the green circles, then, screaming, a pitch-black dragon erupted from the pillar.

[Black Feather Dragon - Synchro - Level 8 - ATK:2800 DEF:1600]

"Now Black Feather, attack Antique Gear Hound Dog with Shadow Squall Blast!" The black dragon turned its head to the smaller beast and shot a black beam from its mouth, destroying the Dog. The beam consumed the player controlling the dog-beast as well, sending him flying backwards into a portal which opened to swallow him up.

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized." Declared the system.

"Our connection to this world must be unstable! Make sure you don't lose!" Yelled the silver-eyed girl, dropping into a defensive stance.

"Not much you can do about that now!" came a voice from above them. Koji looked up to see five motorcycles, four of them occupied. The voice had come from a boy in a black sleeveless hoodie over a black and gray striped tank top with a red helmet sitting on a bike with a strange red arch over his head. He pulled off the helmet and shook out pitch-black hair from under it. He attached a Duel Disk to his arm, its design reminding Koji of antique Disks he'd seen in Heartland, and jumped off the ring.

"And why's that?" Yelled the silver-eyed girl. Now that she wasn't trying to kill him, Koji took a moment to notice she was actually quite cute.

The teen didn't answer her. "By discarding one card from my hand, I Summon Quick Synchron!" He called, placing one card into a slot on the body of his Disk and placing another in a Monster Zone. A cowboy-style robot appeared, twirling a pistol.

[Quick Synchron - Level 5 - -ATK: 500- DEF: 1600]

"Next, I summon Junk Synchron from my hand!" The black-haired teen yelled, slapping the card down next to Quick Synchron. A smaller, orange robot with a pull cord engine strapped to its back appeared next to Quick Synchron.

[Junk Synchron - Level 3 - -ATK: 1300- DEF: 500]

"Now I use Junk Synchron's effect! I can target a level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Summon it without an effect! I target Level Stealer! Then, with Doppelwarrior's effect, since I Summoned a monster from the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Doppelwarrior!" He yelled. Junk Warrior held out one hand and a small scarlet insect appeared next to it, as well as a suit-clad warrior with a crossbow.

"Now I tune Level 3 Junk Synchron to Level 2 Doppelwarrior and Level 1 Level Stealer!" Doppelwarrior and Level Eater flew into Junk Synchron's 3 level rings and turned into three white stars.

2-star+3-star+1-star = 6-star

"When wishes gather around the messenger of the gale, that wish will become an invincible shield! Become the path this light shines upon! Level 6! Rise up, Junk Garnda!" A green tank of a robot with massive arms appeared alongside the boy.

[Junk Gardna - Level 6 - ATK: 1200 -DEF: 2600-]

"Now for Level Stealer's ability! When Level Stealer's in the grave, I can take a level from one level 5 or higher monster on my field and Summon Level Stealer from the grave with it! I reduce Quick Synchron's level by 1!" Level Stealer shot through Quick Synchron, stealing a glowing star from his body and consuming it.

[Level Stealer - Level 1 - -ATK: 600- DEF: 0]

"Now I Tune Level 4 Quick Syncron to Level 1 Level Eater! Clustering wishes will become a whirling gale of feelings! Become the wings which ride this gale! Level 5! Take to the skies, Jet Warrior!" He chanted, slamming the card down. A large robot with fighter jet accoutrements flew onto the teen's board.

[Jet Warrior - Level 5 - -ATK: 2100- DEF: 1000]

With Jet Warrior's effect, I can return a card on the field to it's owner's hand when he's Synchro Summoned! **Gusting Engine**!"

Jet Warrior's powerful shoulder turbines roared to life, whisking up Cyber Rampage and removing it from the field.

"Rampage!" The silver-eyed girl yelled, instinctively crossing her arms in front of her face to protect herself.

"Level Stealer's ability activates again! I reduce Gardna's level by 1!" Level Stealer shot through Drill Warrior, stealing a glowing star from his body and consuming it.

[Level Stealer - Level 1 - -ATK: 600- DEF: 0]

"Then I activate the Spell Card Instant Synchro! With Instant Synchro, I can choose a non-Tuner on my field and use that and Instant Synchro treated as a Level 1 to Synchro Summon! I target Level Stealer!" He yelled, pulling a third card. Koji was impressed with the one-turn play, but how could a 2-star be of any benefit now?

"Gathering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Level 2 Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!" A racecar with a humanoid torso attached appeared on the black-haired teen's board.

[Formula Synchron - Level 2 - -ATK:200- DEF: 1500]

"With Formula's effect, I draw a card when it's Synchro Summoned!" He closed his eyes and let the tension in his body go, then pulled his right forearm in front of his face. A red mark Koji hadn't noticed before, almost like a stylized dragon head, etched itself into his forearm, then just as quickly disappeared. "Over Top Clear Mind!" Red wings and a tail erupted from his back, stopping his flight and then reversing it. Above him, a green circle appeared in the sky, similar to the one that has spawned Blade Blaster, but this one was ringed in some kind of glowing red dragon carving. "I tune Level 5 Jet Warrior and Level 5 Junk Gardna to Level 2 Formula Synchron!" The boy called out. He flew with his monsters into the hole in the sky and disappeared. A second green circle appeared in the exact center of the ring on the bridge. "Gathering stars become one as new bonds illuminate the future! Limit Over Accel Synchro! The light of Evolution, Shooting Quasar Dragon!" Came yelling from inside the circle. Suddenly, the teen burst out riding a massive white dragon with interlocking wings trailing golden light. The beast flew around the central ring once, twice, then stretched out huge, taloned feet and landed atop a large arch above the gem in the ring.

[Shooting Quasar Dragon - Level 12 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 4000]

"Quasar can make attacks equal to the number of Synchro monsters used to Summon it! That makes three this turn!" He yelled. Pointing down at the silver-haired girl, he yelled, "there's your first target! Creation Burst!" Quasar roared. The dragon extended one of its arm-like forelegs at the defenseless girl. A golden circle appeared in its palm, holding Jet Warrior within. Quasar's clawed hand clenched around the globe, and a massive gilded beam erupted from it, consuming the girl standing on the bridge. When Koji looked back, she was gone. "Two more! Quasar! Strike down that Antique Gear Hound Dog!" The teen yelled, pointing at another member of Obelisk Force, "Creation Burst!" Another sphere appeared in Quasar's palm, this one with Junk Gardna's image. Quasar clenched its hand again, and the same golden light that had banished the girl did the same to the Obelisk Force warrior. "Last one! Attack that ugly Osiris rip-off! Final Creation Burst!" Quasar roared, a third golden ball containing Formula Synchron appearing in front of its mouth this time, and threw its head back. It roared full-force, targeting the scarlet dragon , and the same gilded beam eliminated another player.

"I end my turn!" He yelled down.

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized." said the AI. A third young man, this one with dark blonde hair and a long coattails attached to a belt at his waist stood, pulling a Duel Disk from one side shield on his strange vehicle, which was essentially a giant tire. "My turn!" He yelled, pulling a card from his deck with a flourish, "I activate Karakuri Anatomy, then Summon Karakuri Komachi Model two-two-four Ninishi!" He yelled, throwing the card onto the field. An iron automaton in a green and pink kimono appeared. Koji has long since learned not to underestimate tiny monsters as first Summons around here, but 0 Attack? What if you can't finish your play?

[Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 Ninishi - Level 3 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 1900]

"When Ninishi is Summoned, I can play another Karakuri from my hand free of charge! I summon Karakuri Ninja Model nine-one-nine Kuick!" He yelled. A second cobbled automaton, this one wielding a small knife in each hand, rose next to Ninishi.

[Karakuri Ninja mdl 919 "Kuick" - Level 4 - -ATK: 1700- DEF: 1500]

"Now I Tune Ninishi to Kuick! Synchro Summon Karakuri Shogun model triple zero Burei!" He slammed the card into his Disk. The monsters combined into a large warrior with bronze samurai armor and a large, lute-like club.

3-star + 4-star = 7-star

[Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 Burei - Level 7 - -ATK: 2600 DEF: 1900]

"With Burei's effect, I can Summon a Karakuri from my Deck! I play Karakuri Strategist model two-four-eight Nishipachi!" He yelled, sliding the card into his Disk. An old, wooden automaton in a short golden kimono appeared alongside the mighty Burei.

[Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 Nishipachi - Level 3 - -ATK: 500- DEF: 1500]

"Now I activate Nishipachi's effect! I can change the battle position of one monster on the field, targeting itself!" The golden clad warrior hunkered down, protecting itself with its arms. "With Anatomy's effect, it gains a Karakuri Counter, then I activate Karakuri Cash Cache! With this Spell, I change my monster back to attack mode, but I get to add a Level 4 or lower Karakuri from the deck to my hand! I choose Karakuri Barrel model ninety-six Synchro!" The boy called out. His deck shuffled itself and he pulled the top card of it, holding it out before him to reveal it. "Anatomy gains another counter since a battle mode was changed, then I send it to the Graveyard to draw two more cards from the deck!" He yelled, placing the now-full card into the grave. The scroll representing Anatomy wrapped itself around his Duel Disk and his bare arm, and was then sucked into his Deck, which glowed gold. He drew two additional cards, then revealed one while holding the other against his palm, yelling, "I activate the Spell Card One for One! By discarding a monster from my hand," he explained, placing the other card into the Graveyard, "I can Summon a Level 1 monster from my deck! I choose Red Nova!" The young man called out, adding another card to his Disk. On his field apparated a scarlet fairy with a long tail, cloaked in a fiery aura.

[Red Nova - Level 1 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 0]

"Next up, I activate Karakuri Overwork! With this Spell, I can Special Summon a Karakuri Tuner from my hand by changing the battle positions of two Monsters I control! In exchange, I can't Special Summon by methods other than Synchro Summon for the rest of the turn! I Summon Karakuri Barrel model ninety six Synchro!" He called out. A barrel with arms and legs appeared next to Red Nova.

[Karakuri Barrel mdl 96 Shinkuro - Level 2 - -ATK: 400- DEF: 400]

"Then I activate Star Changer! Just like the name suggests, I can change the level of one monster on the field either up or down by one until the End Phase! I target Karakuri Barrel and reduce it by one!" Shinkuro glowed from two sources, which changed to one as Changer's effect resolved. Either player... Koji shuddered at the thought. What would the reaction between that and Tyranno or a card like High Heraldry Arts be, he wondered.

"I tune Synchro to Burei!" The teen yelled, pulling a card from his Extra Deck with a long flourish, "The Ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Bear witness to its creation-shaking power! My very soul, Red Demon's Dragon!" Out of the Synchro Summon came a massive dragon of fiery red with wings the color of charcoal.

[Red Demon's Dragon - Level 8 - -ATK: 3000- DEF: 2000]

This guy had stolen Koji's 'my very soul' thing. Sort of. He was a bit mad about it.

The scarlet dragon roared down at the terrified member of Obelisk Force and his Antique Gear. A flick of that dragon's clawed forepaw could obliterate the 'warrior' who remained. The third strange guy still had spare monsters, though, so Koji figured there was more in store.

"I Double Tune Nishipachi and Red Nova to Red Demon's!" Yelled the teen, throwing one hand up into the air. Red Demon's was encircled by four rings of scarlet fire, one from Red Nova and three from Nishipachi, twirled around Red Demons' body, which dissolved into 8 stars.

The letters explaining the reaction were in scarlet rather than the usual black, which made them rather hard to read except for when the text was silhouetted with black in the flames.

1-star + 3-star + 8-star = 12-star

"The King and Demon shall become as one. Raging Spirit! Lift the cries of Creation itself! Come forth, Scar-Red Nova Dragon!" He yelled. In a massive burst of dark fire, a large scarlet dragon with black veins across its body appeared, roaring as if to challenge God himself. Koji had no doubt it would win that scuffle.

[Scar-Red Nova Dragon - Level 12 - -ATK: 3500- DEF: 3000]]

"Scar-Red gains 500 attack points for each Tuner in my graveyard!" Scar-Red roared again and spread its wings, the fires within them forming the shapes of a few of the monsters he had summoned. Ninishi, Nishipachi, Synchro, Red Nova. Scar-Red's ATK stat shot up by 2000 points, all the way to 5500.

"Scar-Red Nova Dragon! Destroy that dog-shaped trash heap! Burning Soul Strike!" Red Nova roared mightily, then lowered its massive head and blew black-red flames down upon the Hound Dog, consuming its owner in the process.

The portraits of the Xyz fighters, as well as the three mystery warriors appeared overhead, with "WIN" written in red across them. The two Synchro players who had jumped off the ring rode their monsters back up to the top of the huge blue gem.


	3. Prologue 3: The Securities Director

Prologue Part 3: The Securities Director! Fudo Yuuji, son of Yusei?

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry I'm a bit late... I've been on vacation, so I didn't get this chapter done until today... I hope you guys're liking the story so far! Uhm, somebody's probably wondering about Standard somewhere, so I'm gonna explain that a bit.**

 **Basically, Akira messed up the frequency to transport the city, which stranded Kurosaki Yuuto and the Resistance forces in Heartland, which Fusion is using as their base of operations to attack Synchro.**

 **Last chapter, the Fusion lackeys that showed up were basically piggybacking on Akira's jump to try to catch them, but losing caused their Disks to shut down temporarily and lose the signal, which pulled them back to Xyz.**

 **I'll be bringing in Yuuya and his little group of bros after I'm done with this prologue, so just bear with me. Hope you guys enjoy, and please favorite and review. I'm always excited to know what people think of this ^^,**

"Sooooo, who are you guys?" Hiroka asked a dark-haired boy with pink bangs who had presented himself as leader of their little club.

"I guess you can call us refugees here… our homeland was attacked, so we came here to try to escape," was the reply. The boy seemed to be struggling to be polite against his personality, which confused Hiroka. Wing gave a 'told-you-so' cough and Hiroka shot him a murderous look.

"Escape what?" Hiroka replied, shifting his weight a little.

"We were attacked by a large army of Duelists from some other world this morning," the boy replied, "they were using Fusion monsters, and those who lost…" he had to stop. The blonde with green bangs piped up to finish for him.

"Those who lost got turned into cards. We - the Duelists here - were protecting as many people as we could until we could escape into another dimension, which is here. I would've thought there'd be more people left after the fighting, but I suppose it's just us."

A little girl, about 8 or 9, grabbed a handful of a scarlet/blonde-headed boy's coat in the back of the group and cried quietly into it. He dropped to his knees to comfort her. Wing looked away in horror.

"And now they'll be coming for this city, I suppose." Hiroka noted, "I suppose we've dealt with worse around here, but still." He walked back to his bike and pulled up his computer. "Whatever my father says, you made the right call."

"Your father?" Asked the scarlet haired boy.

"Yup. The director of the Sector Security and Public Maintenance Bureau, otherwise known as the supreme ruler of the city." At length, Hiroka found his father in his contact list. "I'd bet money he'll talk to you guys at least. He's always interested in impressing guests."

"I'm hoping to warn this place of the attack so you won't be beaten as easily as we were." Said the black-red-haired boy.

"Hiroka." Adam interrupted, "we don't even know their names and you want to throw them to our parents?"

Hiroka, having realized his grave error, looked up. "Good point. So, who are you guys, anyway?"

"My name's Tsukumo Yuukine. That guy with the blonde hair and bad attitude is Koji Tenjo." Said the red/black-haired boy. Blondie grunted.

"My name's Kozuki Akira." Said Mechanic Chick, "that guy's Quattro, she's Kiyomi, and Captain Angst goes by Shark." She continued, pointing to the guy with red/blonde hair comforting the elementary schooler, a girl with long blonde hair and lastly a girl with dark purple hair.

"Well, nice to meet you all. Let's see if we can get you somewhere to stay while you're here." Hiroka replied, touching the call button on his D-Wheel's monitor. A moment later, a middle-aged man with close-cropped hair picked up.

"Hiroka." said the boy's father, eyes glittering like ice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Father. I have some people here I think you'd like to meet. I'm going to come up to Security headquarters with them. You will leave my friends and I alone." Hiroka returned. He clenched his hand around the handle of his bike to control himself.

"Why should I? Those seem hardly agreeable terms." Hiroka's father replied easily.

"They're from some kind of other world. They're here as refugees from a large battle and we have reason to believe that they'll come for this city next."

"Fine. I'll see you here, and give you 3 hours of immunity." He replied. The screen winked out a moment later.

"Are we seriously gonna take your dad's word on something?" Lisanna questioned, "that seems like a bad idea."

"It is. We just kind of have to." Hiroka replied. He turned back to the new guys and added, "pick someone to ride with. We have to get there fast. Aaron, you follow on foot with the kids."

"I'll stick with him." Quattro commented.

"You two need someone who knows what they're doing along. I'm staying with the two of you." Shark added.

* * *

Koji ended up riding behind a guy named Adam Atlas, the dude with the weird giant tire bike. The two of them rode along mostly in silence. After discovering the two of them had similar taste in music, Koji had asked Adam to show him the better alternative rock from Synchro, which is what he was in the process of doing. The music and lack of conversation meant that Koji could spend some time gawking at the city. Everything was white and silver, except for the billboards, which were CG'd every color of the rainbow. In the center of it all was a huge white building with a red top with white inlay that read K.C. When Koji asked, Adam replied, "that's the KaibaCorp building. It's also the center of the city, since the Duel Stadium's right next to it."

"Ah. Guess it's kind of like Heartland Tower."

"Wouldn't be surprised."

The group continued through the city all the way to a huge, dark blue building, where everything before this had been pure white. While being around the same height as the other skyscrapers in the city center, it looked larger, more ominous. "That's it." Adam said, "Sector Security Headquarters."

The group parked their bikes right outside the doors at the bottom, then entered the building. A large, clean foyer opened before them. Hiroka waved to the receptionist and walked up. "My father is expecting us. I need a key card to the Director's office."

The receptionist handed him a card. Hiroka turned away from the desk and marched over to the elevators at the back of the room, somehow managing to look every Security officer in the eyes without turning his head to glare with his uncovered eye, which was an impressive feat. He swiped the key card on the elevator, ushered everyone in (surprisingly, they all fit with a little bit of elbow room), and punched the top floor button. Hard. The elevator, no doubt scared into operation, shot to the top of the Skyscraper. When the doors opened, the room was dark save a massive, several-man computer terminal at the back of the room. Silhouetted in the terminal's light was a huge, thronelike chair, which swiveled as lights turned on across the room to reveal a middle-aged man; he had dark hair with blonde streaks and wore a dark business suit with a strange circular symbol on his cravat.

Hiroka clenched his left fist visibly. "Father." He said, speaking in a cold, controlled voice.

"Who are these people you have brought me?" His father asked. All love, these two.

"I haven't brought you anything. I brought these people here in the hope that you would have the common sense to protect the city from the threat that claimed theirs."

"Fine. Who are you people, anyway?"

Yuukine stepped forward. He opened his deck box and pulled out Numbers 39. "Have you ever seen a card like this?"

A couple of Securities shook their heads.

"Right you haven't. This is an Xyz monster. And we," he gestured behind him at Koji and the others, "are from another dimension. We were invaded by warriors wielding the power of Fusion. If someone lost to them, they were turned into a card, and few of us could compare to their Dueling skill. We saved a few children and ourselves, but the rest of our city, over twenty thousand people, didn't make it." Yuukine stopped and looked down and away. Koji could see his eyes were wet. "We managed to escape thanks to our mechanic, but Fusion warriors chased us here. They know you exist now, and they are ruthless and freakishly strong. The Fusion warriors appeared in our world at our perpetual motion power plants and other places of high energy. If you want to be prepared, watch for energy spikes in those areas."

"They appeared on Daedalus Bridge above the Supermassive Inter-City Reactor two hours ago. Wing, Adam and I took care of them." Hiroka added. Someone pulled up the video of Koji and the others arriving. There were gasps from the crowd of officers when both groups showed.

"Well then. You have convinced me. I would guess they'll appear around the three Momentum reactors." Said Hiroka's father, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

"Three?" Hiroka asked, "I thought it was just the one in the city and the Supermassive Reactor under Daedalus Bridge."

"Those are the two we draw energy from. However, in the depths of Sattelite, there is a third reactor. The first one created and the reason for the two islands. The Minus Reactor, used in Fudo Yusei's time by the Dark Signers in a bid to take over the city."

"I'll take that one." Hiroka said shortly. "That one's negative energy, so there shouldn't be much trouble with it. I'll just have to find it. The rest of you guys should divide up the other two, since those are probably more important."

Hiroka's father nodded. "Just as quick as I remember you being. I will ensure inter-city travel is shut down."

"Fine. My friends are going to Daedalus Bridge, since that's higher energy so Duelists with more Duel Energy should end up there."

"We'll be there as well. I don't know about them, but I have a score to settle." Yuukine added, "knowing Shark, she'll go to the city."

Koji nodded.

"We'll be ready for them."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, no Duels this time, so no cards to do... I really should do last week's custom cards, but I'm feeling pretty lazy today, so maybe later. Have a good rest of the week, everybody!**


	4. Prologue 4: The Old Reactor!

Prologue Part 4: The Old Reactor! Hiroka versus Obelisk Force?

 **A/N: Well, here we are again. Last time was really short, I know, but this week should make up for it. Promise. Sorry I haven't posted in a while… I got grounded for a while so I haven't been able to get to a computer until today ^^,**

Hiroka watched a single column of light rise from the dirt around the old reactor. He re-angled Scarlet Stardust to the light. After fiddling with a few buttons, Hiroka deployed a magnification lens from the front of the bike and displayed video from it on the screen in front of him, which revealed a soldier the likes of the uniformed fighters from the bridge two weeks ago. He'd been keeping up with his friends, mostly Lisanna, but this was the first guy to show so far as he knew.

When he reached the warrior, he turned his bike to the side and stepped off towards the Fusion Duelist, pulling off his helmet and tossing it underhand at his bike. He heard the arm of the bike move to catch it.

The warrior grinned sadistically and looked over at Hiroka. "I guess I made it to Synchro, huh?" He asked from under the strange, pointed mask.

"I guess you did. Ready to be sent back?" Hiroka asked, reaching a gloved hand behind his right side to touch his fingertips to the sensors on the deck box at his belt. On recognizing his prints, the box clicked into two - an Extra Deck and a Main Deck.

"No, no, no, you can't 'send me back'," replied the warrior, "I'm on my own wavelength now, not piggybacking. I'm here as long as I want, and everyone else won't be far behind. If you were smart, you'd go and join your friends, but you know what I'll do to this area if left unchecked, don't you?"

Hiroka clipped the Extra and Main Decks on his blue armguard. "You'll turn them all to cards, right?"

The warrior laughed aloud. "They really told you everything, didn't they? You should know we laugh like hunters bagging game, then." He threw his head back, "because that is what we, the Obelisk Force, truly are!"

Hiroka turned and clipped his Duel Disk to his arm. "Then I'll just have to get you thrown back for failure to procure a hunting license."

The Obelisk Force member grinned, the red gems that served as his eyepieces gleaming as he did. "That's the kind of attitude I like!" he replied, activating his Duel Disk, which threw a curtain of blue-black light in the shape of a sword.

"You take the first move!" Hiroka called out, activating his own Disk.

"Fine! My turn! I Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!" yelled the Obelisk Force. Houng-Dog growled like the grinding of gears and set its forepaws into the hard dirt of the Synchro Dimension.

[Antique Gear Hound Dog - Level 3 - -ATK: 1000- DEF: 1000]

"I set two cards face-down, ending my turn!"

Obelisk Force

Hand: 2

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Antique Gear Hound Dog)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: none

-VS-

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: none

"In that case, I draw!" Hiroka yelled. That Hound Dog couldn't be anything but a bait monster, with that low of Attack Points. If he drew out his opponent's true abilities, then he and Stardust would be better equipped to combat them… First, he had to force a larger monster from his opponent. "Since I control no monsters, I can Summon Junk Forward from my hand! I'll play Forward in Defense Mode!" Hiroka yelled, placing the card into a zone on his refurbished Disk. Junk Forward, a small, tan-colored robot, spun onto the field, yelling before it hunkered down to defend Hiroka and draw out the Obelisk Force's power.

[Junk Forward - Level 3 - -ATK: 900- DEF: 1500]

"I play a face-down, ending my turn!" Hiroka yelled. He didn't want to take a Direct Attack, so he made sure he wouldn't.

Obelisk Force

Hand: 2

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Antique Gear Hound Dog)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: none

-VS-

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 4

Monsters: 1 (Junk Forward)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: none

"My turn! Draw!" Yelled the Obelisk Force, "Hound Dog's effect activates! Since you control a monster, I can deal you 600 damage! Antique Shock!" the masked fighter yelled. Hound Dog glowed and shot a bolt of lightning at Hiroka, who screamed in shock. The attack was real!

"Another Hound Dog is Summoned, and I use this one's effect! 600 more damage!" he yelled. Another dog hit the board, already charged with the blue light. Hiroka winced but didn't cry out this time.

"Ah, at last a show of spine. I appreciate that. I activate Hound Dog's effect! With this, since I control another Antique Gear, I can Fusion Summon using monsters from both my hand and my field as Material!" The Obelisk Force warrior yelled, holding up 3 Antique Gear Hound-Dog cards. "I choose Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog! Come forth!" A huge steampunked Cerberus appeared on the board, once again barking like grinding gears.

[Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog - Level 7 - -ATK: 1800- DEF: 1000]

"Triple Bite can attack up to three monsters each turn! Destroy that Junk Forward!" The Obelisk Force yelled. As soon as the attack was declared, Hiroka looked down at his Disk, intending to activate his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to test the limits of Triple Bite, but the button, which normally stayed white, had turned red to indicate the card could not be used. The Cerburus dashed across the field, consuming Forward in one bite. Hound Dog growled in Hiroka's face before jumping back. At only 1800 Attack Points, this was a pretty strong utility monster. He'd seen better, and the card was not worth three cards. What hidden abilities did it have..?

"I end my turn!" Yelled the Obelisk Force.

Obelisk Force

Hand: 1

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 4

Life Points: 2800

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"I draw!" Hiroka yelled, pulling a card from his Duel Disk. He looked at his hand to assess his options. His best play was Junk Anchor to Summon Jet Warrior, then bounce his opponent's Triple Bite and swing with Jet for huge damage. If he used Jet to take control of the game the rest would be easy. "I Summon Junk Anchor!" He yelled. A small scrap metal robot appeared on the board, accompanied by a high-pitched cry.

[Junk Anchor - Level 2 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 0]

"I activate Anchor's effect by discarding one card!" Hiroka called. "With this, I choose a Junk card in my Graveyard, then perform a Synchro Summon using it and Junk Anchor, banishing them to treat Anchor as any Tuner!" Junk Anchor held out its hand, and Junk Forward rose from the grave. Anchor turned into emerald circles and Forward flew into them, "Clustering wishes will become a whirling gale of feelings! Become the wings which ride this gale! Level 5! Take to the skies, Jet Warrior!" Hiroka chanted.

2-star + 3-star = 5-star

A black-armored robot with fighter jet wings appeared under Hiroka's control.

[Jet Warrior - Level 5 - -ATK: 2100- DEF: 1200]

"With Jet's effect, I can bounce one card on your side of the field right back to your hand! Blow that Triple Bite into next week! **Gusting Engine**!" Hiroka yelled. Jet Warrior's fighter jet fans blew twin tornadoes into Hound Dog, blowing the monster back into his opponent's Extra Deck. When the wind settled, however, the Obelisk Force warrior had a glowing Trap on his field.

"You really are stupid, aren't you? I activate Antique Gear Rebirth Fusion! When an Antique Gear monster leaves the field due to an opponent's card effect, I can Summon a monster from my Extra Deck that lists that monster as Fusion Material! I choose Antique Gear Ultimate Hound Dog!" The Obelisk Force yelled. Triple Bite reappeared for a moment before swirling into Ultimate Hound Dog, a huge scarlet mech with heads and tails haphazardly thrown all over a central torso.

[Antique Gear Ultimate Hound-Dog - Level 9 - ATK: 2800- DEF: 2000]

"When Hound Dog is Summoned, I can use its effect to cut your Life Points in half!" Yelled the Obelisk Force. Lightning shot from a hole in the central torso of the dog, striking Hiroka full in the chest. He screamed and flew back, crashing into his bike as his Life Points dropped to 1400. He stood, teetering and using his bike as a crutch. Hiroka had a large cut on his left shoulder as well as one diagonally through his Signer Mark on his arm.

"Done yet?!" Called his opponent, a sick smile across his lips.

Hiroka spat on the ground. It came out clear, so he set his feet. "Not until I toss you back into the pit you came from!" He replied, "I activate the effect of the Level Stealer I tossed out for Junk Anchor's effect! With this, I reduce Jet Warrior's level by one and Summon it from the grave!" Level Stealer skittered through Jet Warrior and appeared next to it.

[Level Stealer - Level 1 - -ATK: 600- DEF: 0]

Praying he had the strength to bend Yusei's blank card to his will, Hiroka continued the play. "I activate Instant Synchro!" He yelled, throwing the Spell into his Duel Disk, "with this, I can choose monster on my field, and use it with this card, treated as a level 1 monster, to perform a Synchro Summon! I Tune Jet Warrior to Instant Synchro!" He yelled. A ramen-style cup appeared on the field, opening to reveal a single blue ring. Jet Warrior flew into it, turning into lines and four glowing orbs.

1-star + 4-star = 5-star

"Clustering wishes gather at a new speed's horizon! Push further toward that shining star! Level 5! Race on, Accel Synchron!" Hiroka yelled. Accel, a robot similar in body style and identical in color to Scarlet Stardust, appeared under Hiroka's control, shielding itself with its arms.

[Accel Synchron - Level 5 - ATK: 500 -DEF: 2100-]

"Then, I use Jet's effect from the Graveyard! By Tributing a Level 2 or lower monster, I can resurrect Jet Warrior in Defense Mode! **Next World Re-Entry**!" Yelled Hiroka. Level Stealer transformed into a landing strip for Jet Warrior, who flew up from the ground and landed upon it, shielding itself with its arms.

[Jet Warrior - Level 5 - ATK: 2100 -DEF: 1200-]

Hiroka closed his eyes and focused. Stardust forged into a sword... Wings on a suit of armor... Bend the card to this shape... He could feel the card changing to suit his needs in his Disk. He acknowledged the satisfaction he felt, then pushed it out of his mind.

"Clear Mind!" Hiroka called out. Slowly, he pointed upwards. A green circle formed in the sky, well above his head, and Accel and Jet flew into it. The Dragon's Head Mark burned on his right arm, and the ground rumbled beneath him. "Clustering wishes become a shining new star! Take up your steel, and let your white wings become the path that light shines upon! Level 10! Accel Synchro!" Hiroka screamed. A huge green circle opened behind him, and a huge knight with pure-white wings flew out of the circle's light, twirling a massive poleaxe like a toy weapon.

5-star + 5-star = 10-star

"Fight on, Stardust... Warrior!"

[Stardust Warrior - Level 10 - -ATK: 3000- DEF: 3000]

"Playtime's over, Totem-Head! Stardust Warrior and I are gonna send you straight back to hell! I play the Spell Card Night Beam! With this, I destroy one face-down Spell or Trap you control, and you can't react using the card at all!" Hiroka yelled, a blast of golden light blowing the card to smithereens, "Stardust Warrior! Attack that Hound Dog! When a Synchro monster I control with Warrior in its name battles, I can send Rush Warrior from my hand to the Graveyard to double that card's Attack!" Hiroka yelled. The Obelisk Force warrior gasped and stumbled back, tripping on a rock and falling to the ground.

Hiroka threw the card into the Graveyard. " **Lightning Starlight Slash**!" Hiroka screamed. Stardust Warrior burst across the field in a blur of motion, slicing the huge dog in half in one motion. The monster exploded, sending the Obelisk Force warrior flying. Hiroka watched in satisfaction for a moment until he noticed the ground had cracked under the force of the blow.

"They appear in places of high Duel Energy." Yuukine's voice echoed in his mind. He wouldn't have appeared right over the...

The ground collapsed under Hiroka around to the flying member of Obelisk Force. The two fell in. Hiroka screamed and grabbed at the rubble, reached for Stardust Warrior, but the Duel had been interrupted and the blank card had flown away so Stardust was stalled. Searing pain erupted in his arm. Pebble in his cut- No! No! Not the mark! Hiroka knew he could get back up if he could just-

Hiroka fell into the soft rainbow light of the Minus Reactor. Above him in the soup, his cards had fallen in. He watched Jet Warrior fall in and turn black on contact. "No," he said weakly, the last his fading consciousness could do.

He watched Jet Warrior's art change before his eyes, and struggled to read the name out of habit. Pain had engulfed his entire body, but this is what he cared about? Just before blackness took him, Hiroka managed to comprehend the name on what used to be Jet Warrior.

Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing.


	5. Prologue 5: Synchro and XYZ VS Fusion!

Prologue Part 5: Synchro and XYZ VS Fusion! Hiroka's Gone Missing?!

Inside Supermassive HQ, as XYZ refugees and Signers had begun to call the gem atop Daedalus Bridge, all was well. Koji and Adam sat in one corner, coffees on opposite sides of their respective piles of cards, working on strategies together.

"I get what you mean, but if you can get it off, Photon Sublimation really is a great card," Adam was saying, tapping the last copy of the card Koji was debating on taking out of his Deck.

"It's just so dead early game because my monsters are stuck under XYZ monsters, I guess. I like Galactic Charity better."

"Makes sense. Still, do you need that hand circulation if you have a Galaxy XYZ?" Asked Adam skeptically. He sipped his coffee.

"Not really, but it IS nice to have." Koji replied thoughtfully.

"Sub helps you out in desperate situations. AND, it's a plus one rather than just being circulation. Kuriphoton and Galaxy-Eyes are the only cards you ever pull OUT of the Graveyard, but look at all of these Photons you put INTO it."

"I see your point. I think I'll leave it in. Thanks, Adam." Koji said. He meant it, too.

Lisanna sprinted into the room. "Guys... I... I have... Some bad news..." She said. She looked like she was about to cry.

Akira, now dressed in casual clothes on loan from Lisanna, walked over and put an arm around her shoulders.

"I hadn't heard from Hiroka in a couple of days, so I... I contacted his base of operations... They haven't seen him in two days, and the reactor caved in the afternoon they saw him last..." She sniffled a little, and Akira squeezed her shoulder gently. Adam and Wing looked down and away from Lisanna, and Aaron's eyes turned moist. Koji could see a tear running down his friend's face that had been smiling before. Wing, sitting over at the table in the dining room, punched the table in rage.

"Damnit!" He screamed, "why does he have to do everything by himself?!"

"He'll be fine." Koji found himself speaking up unexpectedly, despite his own nature, "Hiroka's a strong guy. Whatever trouble he's in, he'll get himself out of it. That's what he does, right?"

Akira smiled at him and Koji smirked back. Adam looked up. "He's right. Hiroka wouldn't want us crying over milk that might not even be spilled."

As if on cue, the red alert sirens to tell the group about a spike in Duel Energy started to wail. "Especially not with stuff goin' down outside." Wing added.

Adam slammed a button on the wall. A cylinder in the center of the room a few inches off of the floor displayed a hologram between itself and another on the ceiling in a trapezohedral shape. "There's one guy on the roof, more below. Securities are reporting a large battalion in the city center."

"So we take these guys on and use the Real Solid Vision to make our way to the city." Lisanna said. She had her game face on now. Judging from Adam's 'oh shit' glance at Koji, Lisanna was not someone you wanted mad.

"Good plan. Kiyomi!" Yuukine took charge of the little XYZ club.

"'Sup?" She questioned casually.

"You head down and grab a Security, tell them to get the bikes on the transporter and move them to the city center."

Kiyomi nodded and jumped into one of the three elevators, the only one that went to the garage.

"I'm going up," Yuukine continued, "pretty sure the guy up there is our friend who took down most of the warriors in the Heartland District with that stupid combo. I'm the only one who has a chance against him."

Koji nodded. "Hope does have the best chance of taking that combo down. We'll find opponents downstairs."

Koji and others filed into the down elevator. Someone pressed the "ground" button and they flew down the tower.

* * *

Yuukine stepped out of the elevator to meet exactly who he thought he would. A man in a long black cloak stood facing him, curling around him in the wind that blew into Yuukine's face. The wind stirred the long sash attached to his belt around his left leg. Yuukine touched a hand to the top part of his Disk, attached to his Deck Box and his right side.

"I take it you're the guy with that Infinite Attack Combo from Heartland?" Yuukine asked. The man extended one hand to reveal a shield-like Duel Disk with a red body on his left arm.

"Who do I have the pleasure of crushing?" Asked the man. He sounded surprisingly young.

"I am Tsukumo Yuukine, grandson of Tsukumo Yuma, who used the Numeron Code to rewrite the universe and cleanse it of evil. And you?" Yuukine replied.

"I like those eyes. You appear to be worthy of my true strength." Said the cloaked man. He grabbed the right shoulder of the garment with his left hand and pulled, tearing the cloak off around his body. When the cloak settled on the floor, a teen stood in the place of the cloaked man, with a knee-length red coat with a high collar, dark blonde hair and brown eyes so dark they were almost black, a fact that probably wasn't helped by the approaching rainclouds. A lightning bolt struck a lightning rod behind the teen, throwing his high cheekbones and cold brown eyes into high relief.

"My name is Yuuki Kirai. I am the grandson of Yuuki Judai, reincarnation of the Supreme King and Ambassador of Neo-Space." Stated the teen. His eyes flashed blue and scarlet before settling back into brown.

* * *

The group stepped out of the elevator. Adam and Koji, respectively, motioned for the group to split up to cover the Team 5D's History Museum. They didn't get far, however, as every passage out of the room they had ended up in was blocked by a Duelist except one. Reacting nearly instantly, Koji yelled, "Quattro! Get down there!"

Quattro nodded and sprinted through. Koji knew that Quattro's blanket destruction effects, like Giant Killer and Heaven's Strings, would be more helpful to the Securities than anyone else's Numbers. Since none of the Signers had blanket destruction, Quattro was the best choice, and the others were needed here to make sure Yukine could focus on Cape Guy. Koji chose his opponent, the silver-haired girl from before.

"I suppose it's time we told each other our names." She said flatly.

"That's fair," Koji agreed, "especially considering you can hardly write 'cute boy with light hair and blue eyes' on a failure report, can you?"

The girl sighed. "Attractive AND sassy. It's a shame I have to kill you."

"It would be a shame - if you could pull it off. My name's Tenjo Koji." He replied. On the battlefield, Koji was completely at ease, and it showed in stuff like this.

"Hitomi Marufuji. Shall we get this done?" She asked, readying her Disk.

"Duel Mode!" Koji called out. White stripes started in an X on his back, before extending all the way across his shoulders and down his back to cross again at the bottom of his coattails. His half-fingered glove turned pure white and his boots gained white straps in an "X" shape as well. "Photon Change!" He ran his hand across his eye as his implanted D-Gazer activated, turning the skin around his eye blue in a spiked pattern.

"Let's see what you can do." Koji added, setting his feet against Hitomi.

* * *

After Quattro took the center path, Adam ended up with the spot next to Koji. Out of the tunnel came a shorter teen with light, straight blue hair. The two stared at each other in the tunnel, Duel Disks still deactivated. Adam finally broke the silence.

"Nervous, kid?" He asked, giving the shorter boy a cocky smirk.

"Don't underestimate me because of my size. My Deck does a good job backing me up."

"Aren't you the kid with the huge red thing? I make bigger monsters. Regularly."

"We'll see about that." He replied, "my name's Eiji Marufuji."

"Adam Atlas, future King of Neo Domino City." Adam returned, bringing his Disk up in front of him, "shall we?"

Eiji activated his. "With pleasure."

* * *

Akira, by sheer coincidence, had ended up standing across from the same guy that had caused Yuukine so much grief. She was looking forward to beating this loser to a pulp for daring to hurt Yuukine.

But she didn't like him or anything. It was a policy with all of her friends. Wait, no, she liked him, but not, like, LIKE liked him. Stupid.

"You a Synchro user or a coward?" Asked the huge, dark-skinned man in front of her.

"Excuse me?!" Akira half-yelled.

"I didn't see you in the Xyz Dimension. Which means you either were there but didn't fight or are a native of this dimension. So, which is it?"

"I didn't fight. Not last time. I wanted to, but I had to make us an escape plan."

"Oh? And how did that work out for you? You still ended up here. If you'd fought, you might have been able to save some of these people." Said the huge man. When he finished, he scattered a pile of cards. Akira realized some of them were people she knew. Numbers users and others, all sealed within cards. She felt sick.

"I... I could have..." She admitted shakily, "but then, I would have eventually joined them. We couldn't have fought you alone. But we can now. We've got new allies and cards you've never seen, so it's time for you to go down."

"Not a bad response. But I've seen better. You're shaken, and you have a coward's eyes."

"We'll see how long that attitude lasts. Some of these people were my friends, yeah, but all of them supported Yuuki's decision to keep me off the battlefield, and they'd all tell me to beat you right here!" Akira finished, activating her Disk and slipping on her D-Gazer. "Duel Target, Lock-On!"

"Very well. My name is Alexander O'Brien. Make sure to tell the Reaper who sent you." Replied the dark-skinned man. He activated his Disk.

* * *

Lisanna had ended up facing a girl in a silver coat with a strange white Disk.

"I'm assuming you're from around here." Said the girl. Statement, not a question.

Lisanna nodded. "You're from Fusion?"

The girl bobbed her head. "Emilia Phoenix."

"Narumi Lisanna." She replied curtly, pulling up her Duel Disk. "Hope you enjoyed the air outside, 'cause you won't be breathing it again.

* * *

"Hey, Cowboy, you gonna stand around whistling all day or you gonna do somethin'?" Wing questioned, looking over at his opponent-to-be.

"My name is Will Cook, and I'm an archaeologist, not a cowboy." Said the other man coldly, placing one hand on his hip. The other pulled his cowboy hat down over one eye. Wing had gotten under his skin with that. He could tell.

"Whatever, Cowboy. Let's get this done. I have places to be." Wing replied, readying his Disk.

"Be sure to tell the Reaper who sent you." Replied the other man, doing the same.

* * *

"The Great Me will not be restrained here for long!" Aaron yelled, pointing at a teen at least 3 years older than him, "I got places to be and you really aren't involved in getting me there!"

"You're annoying." Said the blue-haired teen, opening his eyes to reveal gilded irises.

"Like I care what you think! I'm the great Narumi Aaron, grandson of Rua of the Dragon's Heart!"

"My name's Johan Andersen. When you meet the Reaper, tell him who sent you." Said the boy, pulling his Disk out from under his black cloak.

* * *

Fudo Yuji stepped onto the dirt of the former B.A.D. Area, now burned to the ground. He walked up to the edge of the chasm and picked up two cards from where they laid in the dirt. Stardust Dragon and Yusei's blank card. Outwardly, he shed tears, but internally, he smiled. It was time to take back the power of Clear Mind.

* * *

"I suppose now we find out who's legacy is better, eh?" Yuukine asked, pulling the top of his Disk and his D-Gazer from his belt.

Kirai nodded coldly.

"Duel Disk, set!" Yuukine yelled, tossing the top into the air. It flew and restructured itself into a form where it would fit atop the second piece on his wrist. Yuukine held his arm into the air, and the pieces connected. He brought his arm back down and his Monster Zones unfolded from the Duel Disk.

Kirai held up his arm wordlessly and a scarlet field in the shape of a sword phased out from his own Duel Disk.

"D-Gazer, set!" Yuukine called. He threw his D-Gazer into the air and it unfolded before he placed it over his eye.

* * *

"Duel!" Yelled all of the players at once.

SYNCHRO AND XYZ VS FUSION: BATTLE ROYAL BEGIN!


	6. Prologue 6: Yuukine VS Kirai!

Prologue Part 6: The Battle Begins! Yuukine VS Kirai, Yuji's Gambit!

A man in a white lab coat stepped up to the base of the steps to Yuuji's throne.

"Speak." Yuuji stated, eyes focused on the drama unveiling on the screens.

"Sir, that card you requested, to control the power of the blank card."

Yuuji turned to face the researcher. "Is it done?"

"Well, yes, but I would prefer you Summon some other Accel Synchro, such as Halberd Cannon. The variable known as the Crimson Dragon is simply too powerful for us to contain. We can't be sure how much control you will have over the monster this way." The researcher offered the card to him.

"I trust your research team, Dr. Sakaki." Yuuji replied, "Limitover Drive… fitting. Lieutenant! Prepare my transport ship."

* * *

"I'll take the first move!" Yuukine called, "draw!" He assessed his hand. "I activate the Field Spell Onomatopia!" Yuukine called, dropping the card into an appropriate slot. The clouds in the sky took on a purplish hue, and the scattered rain changed to light.

"Then, I summon Gagaga Sister! Sister'll search my Deck for Gagaga Emergency Network!" He continued, adding the card to his hand, "next, since I control a Gagaga monster, I get to Summon Gagaga Clerk from my hand! Sister's effect will allow her to make the levels of both Sister and Clerk equal to their combined Levels! They're both Level 2, so the total is 4!" Sister and Clerk's levels flashed in front of them, then shot up to 4. "But that's not all! I use Level 4 Clerk and Sister to construct the Overlay Network! Arise, Numbers 39! King of Wishes, Hope!" Yuukine finished. Clerk and Sister flew into the rift created by the summoning of an XYZ monster, which dispensed the all-too-familiar form of Numbers 39.

[Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope -Rank 4- -ATK: 2500- DEF: 2000]

"When a Hope monster is Summoned, Onomatopia gains a Kattobingu Counter, which adds 200 Attack Points to all of my monsters! I set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Yuukine finished.

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 1 (Gagaga Emergency Network)

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Onomatopia, 1 Kattobingu Counter)

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: 0

"Draw! I activate the Spell card E-Emergency Call!" Kirai started, "with this, I can search my deck for an E•HERO monster and add it to my hand! I choose E•HERO Neos!" He held up the white warrior for Yuukine to see.

"Next, I activate the Magic Card Fusion!" Kirai added. Yuukine smirked. He was ready for that Wild Jaggyman or whatever it was called. "E•HERO Neos and E•HERO Shadow Mist! Guided by the light of this flaming world, combine your strength into one! Level 8! Anti-HERO... Dark Neos!"

* * *

Yuuji stepped onto the polished floor of a drop helicopter's deck. Attached to his left arm was a white Synchro Duel Disk. A tight unit of Securities stood with him on the deck, gold armbands indicating his personal force. "Remember," Yuuji addressed the unit, "when we get there, you need to place yourself under the command of either Lieutenant Hughes or the ranking officer if he has fallen in combat. Those kids are good, but they'll still need support, and you're the best people to give it." The officers nodded collectively.

Yuuji pressed the earpiece he wore. "How long until we reach Heartland Tower?"

"8 minutes in this weather. Let's hope that huge source of Duel Energy doesn't Two-Hit-Kill that Xyz kid."

"Let's hope."

* * *

"Dark… NEOS!" Kirai screamed, throwing down the card.

Yuukine gasped in shock and horror. MORE Fusions? From Wild Jaggyman Guy? Kirai stretched out his arms, threw his head back and laughed like a madman. Behind him, a white warrior Yuukine assumed to be Neos arose on Kirai's battlefield. Neos was caught by what appeared to be its own shadow, pinned almost like it was being crucified. Out of Kirai's shadow rose a black-clad warrior Yuukine assumed to be E•HERO Shadow MIst. The warrior reached out and touched the blue gem in the center of Neos' forehead. Seemingly realizing what was happening, Neos struggled for a moment before Shadow Mist assimilated him, changing his color scheme to black and purple, and adding a black cape hung from one shoulder by a spiked spaulder and an aura to match. The blades attached to Neos' elbows changed as well, becoming jagged along both edges, and a large red crystal appeared inside of a symbol that reminded Yuukine of the Barians' on its chest.

[Anti-HERO Dark Neos - Level 8 - -ATK:2500- DEF: 2000]

"With this, it's over! No opponent of mine has seen this card and won!" Kirai called, voice taking on a sick lilt, "and you know what happened to those scum that lost to us, don't you?"

Yuukine grabbed the Emperor's Key sitting against his chest in fear, staring with wide eyes and choking on his breath. The monster's aura was so overbearingly hateful and pain-filled… it was like the beast was in constant pain, and was trying to turn the world to shadows to stop it… The threat of being carded helped, too. He tore his eyes from the monster and turned back to Kirai, eyes set. He brought his hand and Disk in front of his face to protect himself. Sure, that monster was intimidating, but he and Hope could take it on. Its Attack Points were lower than Hope's anyway. "Bring it on! Hope and I can take you!"

"You'll change your tune soon. I activate Shadow Mist's monster effect! With this, since Shadow Mist was sent to the Graveyard, I can add one HERO other than Dark MIst from my Deck to my Hand! I target E•HERO Blazeman!" Kirai said, holding out his Disk, which shuffled his Deck and dispensed the card, which he drew and revealed with a flourish. He added the card to the others in his left hand. "Next, Dark Neos' monster effect activates!" Kirai continued, "by sending a HERO monster from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard, Neos can absorb that monster's powers, gaining its monster effect as well as Attack Points equal to its Level times 200!" Kirai yelled. His Disk dispensed a card and he held it high. "I target E•HERO Wild Jaggyman! **Anti-Neos Absorption**!" He called out, placing the card into his Graveyard. Jaggyman rose out of Dark Neos' shadow, bound the same way Neos had been. Dark Neos turned around to face Jaggyman, then a scarlet light pierced Jaggyman's chest. Jaggyman shattered into motes of light and was absorbed into Dark Neos.

"Then, I equip Dark Neos with Demon's Claw! With this, as I'm sure you're aware, you lose! Now go! **Dark Neos Force**!" Kirai yelled. Neos flipped back its cape to reveal a claw seemingly made of darkness and jumped forward.

"Hope's effect! By using one Overlay Unit, Hope can negate an attack! Moon Barrier!" Yuukine yelled. Hope's wings combined in front of him to form a shield, which Dark Neos' fist collided with, creating a shockwave that blew Yuukine off of his feet. He pushed himself back over in a flip to face Kirai, who spat through his teeth.

"I set two cards facedown, ending my turn. At this moment, Demon's Claw is destroyed by its own effect."

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 1 (Gagaga Emergency Network)

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Onomatopia, 1 Kattobingu Counter)

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 1

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"My turn, Draw!" Yuukine called out, spinning on his left foot as he drew, like his grandfather had done in his youth. He checked the card, then assessed his options. "I activate Xyz Treasure Ticket!" Yuukine said, placing the card into his Disk with a flourish, "with this, by selecting an Xyz Monster on my field with a Rank of 4 or lower, I get to draw cards equal to its Rank! I target the Rank 4 King of Wishes, Hope, so I get 4 cards!" Yuukine finished. He drew the cards and reassessed the situation. With some decent advantage now, he was a little more comfortable, but he couldn't afford to coddle this guy any more. He was hoping to not have to do this, but since it had gotten this far…

"Hope! Join your friends in form and purpose, and use your power to reconstruct the Overlay Network!" Yuukine yelled. Hope changed back into his Sealed Form before changing to a lined form with one light in the center of it. The lines representing Hope's body changed into the dimensional gate used to Xyz Summon in front of Yuukine, before Hope and his Overlay Unit flew into the hole. "God of Thunder, combine with the Future's King! Grace our battle with the crash of thunder, Special Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Lightning Hope!"

Lightning struck a lightning rod again, this time behind Yuukine. Then, from the center of the storm above, a huge bolt struck Yuukine's field. In its wake, a form of Hope with blue armor accents appeared, grunting as it turned to face Kirai.

[Special Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Lightning Hope - Rank 5 - -ATK: 2500- DEF: 2000]

"Onomatopia gains a Kattobingu Counter, raising Hope's Attack Points to twenty-nine hundred!" Yuukine continued. "Now!" He yelled, pointing at Dark Neos, "Lightning Hope's gonna take down your buddy there! **Hope Sword Lightning Slash**!"

"I activate Dark Neos' monster effect! Absorb the Level 6 Elemental HERO Phoenixguy! Anti-Neos Absorbtion!" Kirai called out. Neos' attack jumped to 3700.

"Lightning Hope's ability! By removing both of its Overlay Units I can take its attack power all the way to five grand! **Lightning Charge**!" Yuukine shot back, "take down that Neos!" Hope charged, slashing twin lines across Dark Neos' chest. Neos stumbled, and Hope half-flew, half-glode back, then pointed its sword at Neos. Lightning burst from the sky, and rebounded off of Hope's sword to strike Neos, unleashing a huge cloud of smoke.

Inside the cloud, Yuukine heard Kirai's laughter. When the smoke cleared, Dark Neos still floated above him. "How?" He yelled. Yuukine felt his eyes widen in shock.

"E•HERO Phoenixguy can't be destroyed by battle!" Kirai replied, "and since Dark Neos absorbed his effect, neither can he!"

"But you still take the battle damage!" Yuukine shot back. Kirai smirked as his Life dropped by a pretty large amount. "I end my turn with that!" Yuukine finished.

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Special Numbers 39: Lightning Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Onomatopia, 2 Kattobingu Counters)

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 2700

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized."

Yuukine didn't need to be told that. The helicopter showing up from the city was all he needed. The back bay opened and out jumped Hiroka's old man. Fudo... Something. He'd forgotten. "Hey, old man! Nice of you to show up!" Yuukine called to him, waving.

"That's Director Fudo to you, punk!" Yelled a Security from inside.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Yuukine shot back. The helicopter closed back up before the Security could retort. Hiroka's old man activated his Duel Disk.

"Just who are you?" Asked Kirai, narrowing his eyes at his new opponent.

"Fudo Yuji, son of Fudo Yusei and Izayoi Aki, and Director of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau." Hiroka's old man retorted.

"Your time has passed, old man. I'm not interested in fighting you."

Yuji's eyes narrowed. "You won't think that for long."

"My turn!" He said, "Draw." He checked his hand, then the card he drew, then held the latter out, "Since I control no monsters, I can Summon Junk Forward from my Hand!" A small, tan robot back flipped onto the field. It spun into a kneeling position and brought up its arms to protect its chest.

[Junk Forward - Level 3 - ATK: 900 -DEF: 1500-]

"Next, since you control a Level 5 or higher monster, I can Special Summon Junk Giant." Continued Hiroka's dad. A huge brown tank of a robot appeared next to the lean one, defending itself just the same.

[Junk Giant - Level 6 - ATK: 2000 -DEF: 2400-]

"I Normal Summon Junk Anchor." He added. A childlike red and black robot appeared next to the others. A 0 Attack Normal Summon... Those had lead to some of the most devastating plays Yuukine had seen recently, but they still made him shudder.

[Junk Anchor - Level 2 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 0]

"I Tune Anchor to Forward!" Hiroka's father continued.

2-star + 3-star = 5-star

"The first to reach a new speed's horizon, let your legacy ride forth! The Synchro Tuner, Accel Synchron!"

[Accel Synchron - Level 5 - ATK: 500 -DEF: 2100-]

"Next, the Equip Spell Synchro Boost equips to Giant, raising its level by 1 and its Attack by 300. After which, I play Artificial Synchro to make it treated as a Synchro Monster." Yuji continued, placing the two cards into his Disk. Giant's Level jumped by one and it gained a white sheen over its armor. Make it a Synchro? That seemed stupid and unnecessary.

"Now, the card that will be your undoing: Limitover Drive!" Yuji called out, "this card returns a Synchro Tuner and a Synchro to my Deck to Summon any Synchro from my Extra Deck with levels equal to those two cards, ignoring Summon Conditions! I return Junk Giant to my Deck and Accel Synchron to my Extra to Summon my Level 12 Shooting Quasar Dragon! Come to me, Quasar!" Yuji screamed, holding up his hand. Accel Synchron and Junk Giant turned into white lights which created a green circle in the sky behind Yuji. Quasar appeared, roaring, from the circle.

[Shooting Quasar Dragon - Level 12 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 4000]

From behind Quasar out of the circle, however, came a huge red dragon's body, which was attached at the neck to Quasar. Quasar roared again, and it sounded higher pitched, more ancient somehow. The dragon turned to Yuji and raised one of Quasar's forelegs. Yuji's Extra Deck glowed, and Stardust flew into the dragon's palm. A golden light blossomed around the card, creating a golden sphere. Yuji's eyes widened in terror. "What are you doing? Stop! I'm the son of Fudo Yusei! I can control you! Attack him!" He backed away one pace, then two.

Quasar unleashed its attack, caught Yuji and blasted him into one of the gem's support beams.

Stardust Dragon fluttered to the ground in front of Quasar.

* * *

A boy lay in the flat dirt of the former B.A.D. Area. His hair was divided into equal parts black and white.

His left hand, wrapped in a black glove, clenched around a handful of the ashen dirt of the Area. He pushed his hand down and pulled his torso off the ground, pulling his legs up and under him. One eye was covered by black hair, the other by white. He pulled up his right hand, this one wearing a short, half-fingered white glove, and pulled his hair out of his eyes. At the top of his vision he could see that he had alternating black and white locks above his eyes. Slowly, he brushed off his white jacket and black-white T-shirt. Though it shouldn't have, the dirt came away to reveal unblemished fabric.

The Duelist looked off into the distance, at a huge ring atop a massive bridge connecting two white, walled cities. Words echoed in his mind.

"They appeared in places of high energy."

"I'll seal off inter-city travel."

"Those who lose, get turned into cards."

"That's great that nothing's showed up yet. I'm a little scared."

He saw faces in his mind, smiling faces, and felt a strange warmth in his chest. Then the face of a girl with middle length green hair, heard laughter from her lips, and the warmth jumped to his cheeks, replaced by some sort of stretched feeling in his chest.

Lisanna. That was her name. Lisanna and Wing and Adam and Aaron. He had to get to them. He touched his belt buckle, pressed in a Yin/Yang symbol, the same one he wore around his neck. A motorcycle, black and white, rolled up behind him. He pressed in the seat and it popped up to reveal a pair of helmets in a small compartment underneath, both black and white. He slipped one on and closed the compartment, then slid into the seat with a practiced motion.

The Duelist slipped a card from the black brace on his left arm. The top card.

Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing.


	7. Prologue 7: Galaxy-Eyes Outmatched!

Prologue Part 7: Hitomi VS Koji! Galaxy-Eyes Outmatched?!

"I'll go first!" Called Hitomi, "I Summon Cyber Dragon Drei!" A green and silver serpent dragon mech appeared next to the girl, its metal appearing the same shade as the girl's eyes.

[Cyber Dragon Drei - Level 4 - -ATK: 1800- DEF: 1000]

"I play one card face-down and end my turn!" She called.

Hitomi Marufuji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Cyber Dragon Drei)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Tenjo Koji

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: 0

"My turn! I summon Galaxy Wizard!" Koji called out, placing the familiar card onto his Disk.

[Galaxy Wizard - Level 4 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 1800]

"I release Wizard to add Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my Deck to my Hand!" Koji continued, placing Wizard into his Graveyard. His Deck Shuffled and dispensed a card, which he drew and flipped to show his opponent. He held the card against his palm, then drew another card from his hand and flipped it to show. "I activate Photon Sanctuary! With this card, I can Summon two Photon Tokens to my field in Defense Mode!" Koji added. Two balls of concentrated light descended from the sky, then split to flank him.

"That all? You used your Normal Summon already, you know."

Koji smirked. "I know. Thing is, these Tokens have 2000 Attack each!" The Tokens, at that moment, glowed and crashed together. "Which means I can Release them for a certain Special Summon!" He raised his right hand, gloved in white, and pointed to the sky. Above and behind his hand, the crest in the center of Galaxy-Eyes' chest had appeared. "The galaxy that lurks in the darkness, become the light of hope and my very servant. The embodiment of light, now descend! Appear now, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!" Koji yelled. The light from the Photon Tokens gathered around the crest, forming the mighty body of the ancient dragon of light. Galaxy-Eyes roared, beating its mighty wings once, twice and creating a gale of wind. Koji had won.

[Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon - Level 8 - -ATK: 3000- DEF: 2500]

"Galaxy-Eyes! Strike down Cyber Dragon Drei! **Destruction... Photon Stream**!" Koji screamed. Galaxy-Eyes blasted a mighty turquoise blast from its mouth at the silver serpent.

"I activate the Trap Cybernetic Lab Security! With this, when you declare an attack on a Cyber I can destroy every monster on the field!" The floor opened up beneath Drei to reveal a lava pool. Koji had expected a Trap like this. Hitomi knew all his Normal Summons had Attack points had over 2000, so she wouldn't place an 1800 stick unprotected.

"Galaxy-Eyes' monster effect can still be activated! With it, I can banish both himself and the monster he battles!" Koji yelled back. Galaxy-Eyes warped away in an instant. "Then, they return at the end of the Battle Phase, avoiding your little security check!"

"Not too shabby!" Hitomi replied. She smirked. "Still, you've got a long way to go before you have a prayer of defeating me."

Koji returned the cocky smile. "I play two cards face-down, ending my turn!"

Hitomi Marufuji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Cyber Dragon Drei)

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Tenjo Koji

Hand: 2

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"You know, that effect's pretty good," Hitomi said.

"Indeed it is. Galaxy-Eyes is a fragment of the Numeron Dragon, so of course it's powerful." Koji replied with a smirk.

"I guess I'll just have to clip its wings, then. Draw!" Hitomi said. "I activate the Spell Card Upgrade! With this, by sending a LIGHT Machine-type monster I control to the Graveyard, I can summon one that's a Level higher! I send Drei to Summon Cyber Dragon!" The golden serpent turned to scrap, which was recreated as the original Cyber Dragon. The serpent roared, its hide gleaming a beautiful silver, the same shade as the girl's eyes.

[Cyber Dragon - Level 5 - -ATK: 2100- DEF: 1200]

"With Drei removed from play, I activate Cybernetic Shell Plating! With this card, by banishing a Cyber in my Graveyard, I can choose another monster and simultaneously make its effect unable to affect or target other cards and make it unaffected by other cards' effects! I target Galaxy-Eyes by banishing Drei!" Parts of Drei appeared from a magic circle in front of Hitomi, reshaping themselves into a large sphere which enveloped Galaxy-Eyes.

"When Drei's banished, his ability activates, protecting my Cyber Dragon from destruction by battle or card effect! Then, I activate Limiter Removal! With this, I double the Attack of all of my Machines! Ordinarily, they're destroyed during the End Phase, but since Cyber Dragon is under Drei's protection he'll survive the turn!" Cyber Dragon roared as its Attack shot up to 4200.

Well, crap.

"Go, Cyber Dragon! Strike down Galaxy-Eyes! **Evolution Burst**!" Cyber Dragon reared, then blasted lightning into the sphere containing Galaxy-Eyes. The explosion threw Koji back into the main room with the elevators. Galaxy-Eyes floated after him. "How the-" Hitomi questioned. Koji assumed she'd seen Galaxy-Eyes.

Koji laughed, picking himself up. "You really think I'd let you kill off Galaxy-Eyes? I activated Battle Simulation just before the attack hit! With that card, I was able to cut both monsters' attack powers in half and negate battle destruction!"

Hitomi grimaced. "Fine. I play Magician's Commendation! With this, if I've activated two or more Spell Cards this turn, I get to draw two more cards! I'll Set one face-down, and activate the second! Time Capsule! With this, I get to banish one card from my Deck, and it returns in two turns. I end my turn, and at this moment, the effects of Cyber Shell Plating and Limiter Removal end, returning Cyber Dragon's attack to normal."

Hitomi Marufuji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Cyber Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set, Time Capsule)

Active Effects: 1 (Time Capsule, turn 0 of 2)

-VS-

Tenjo Koji

Hand: 2

Life Points: 3400

Monsters: 1 (Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"I Draw!" Koji called. "Galaxy-Eyes! **Destruction... Photon Stream**!" Galaxy-Eyes roared, then blasted bluish lightning down at Cyber Dragon.

"I activate Cyber Network!" Hitomi replied, "with Network, I can banish a Cyber monster in my Deck once a turn! I banish Drei, and use its effect! With this, I can protect Cyber Dragon!"

"You're still taking Battle Damage!" Koji yelled. Hitomi flew backwards into the hall and Koji followed her. "I'll end my turn there!" Koji figured he'd wait to spend the resources on a large offensive until he had beaten down his opponent first. Until then, he'd let her waste resources trying to take down Galaxy-Eyes.

Hitomi Marufuji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 3100

Monsters: 1 (Cyber Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Cyber Network, Time Capsule)

Active Effects: 1 (Time Capsule, turn 0 of 2, Cyber Network turn 0 of 3)

-VS-

Tenjo Koji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 3400

Monsters: 1 (Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"Draw! At this moment, during the Standby Phase, the effect of the card I banished with Time Capsule activates! Treasure Cards From A Different Dimension bounces to my hand, and when it does, we each draw two!" Hitomi called.

Koji drew. Damn. A card like that, while seeming to be equivalent on the outside, actually was pretty heavily weighted in her favor. She got early access to a grand total of three cards, four if you counted Treasure Cards itself. The only downside was her Time Capsule was still on the board for another turn, dead and useless, but she still had four more Spell/Trap Zones open. He got cards as well, so it wasn't a perfect weapon, but that didn't mean it wasn't strong.

"I Summon Cyber Dragon Core!" Called Hitomi. A black machine, almost like a baby snake, with wires hung haphazardly from its body appeared next to Cyber Dragon. It didn't look like something that could be the core of the beautiful serpentine monster, but Koji figured he could roll with it.

[Cyber Dragon Core - Level 2 - -ATK: 400- DEF: 1500]

"Core's ability activates, allowing me to add a Cyber or Cybernetic Spell or Trap from my Deck to my hand! I select Cybernetic Recycling! Next, I play Photon Generator Unit! Using this card, I Tribute Cyber Dragon and Cyber Dragon Core treated as Cyber Dragon, then Special Summon Cyber Laser Dragon from my Deck! Come forth!" Hitomi yelled. Cyber Dragon absorbed Core, then gained blue lights across its upper body. Its tail split open to reveal a large blue glowing spear. The serpentine dragon screamed in triumph.

[Cyber Laser Dragon - Level 7 - -ATK: 2400- DEF: 1800]

"With Laser's effect, I can instantly destroy any monster in possession of an Attack or Defense stat equal to or greater than my Laser Dragon! **Beam of Destruction - Photon Extermination**!" Cyber Laser roared and shot straight through Galaxy-Eyes. Koji waited a few seconds, then realized there wasn't an appropriate drawback coming. Three cards was a steep price to pay, but in this case it was only two because of Core's search, and for a card of that caliber two cards was chump change. That could destroy any Galaxy-Eyes Xyz. Koji felt fear run through his gut.

"Now go, Cyber Laser Dragon! **Evolution Laser Shot**!" Hitomi called out. Cyber Laser Dragon took aim at Koji with its weird blue tail and fired, filling the hallway with smoke. "Next, I activate Cyber Replacement! With this card, I can send Cyber Laser to the Graveyard, and in exchange add one Cyber from my Deck to my hand and Summon another from the Graveyard other than Laser! I add Cyber Dragon Ein and Summon Cyber Dragon, which I will also use to attack directly!" Cyber Dragon blew lightning into the smoke cloud, clearing it.

Koji smirked at his opponent. His Life Points were now 1700, but they would do. Sitting in front of him, on a previously empty field, was Kuriphoton.

"What the... How?!" Hitomi yelled, eyes widened in shock.

"Before your first attack actually dealt me any damage, I used Kuriphoton's effect, ditching it from my hand and paying half my Life Points to prevent all damage for the turn! It's a steep cost, but pretty worth the price, considering!" Koji gloated. He smirked at his silver-eyed opponent through Kuriphoton's azure barrier.

Hitomi spat through her teeth. "I'm done."

Hitomi Marufuji

Hand: 3

Life Points: 3100

Monsters: 1 (Cyber Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Cyber Network, Time Capsule)

Active Effects: 1 (Time Capsule, turn 1 of 2, Cyber Network, turn 1 of 3)

-VS-

Tenjo Koji

Hand: 4

Life Points: 1700

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

After scraping through that last attack, the game now depended on this next turn. An involuntary grin spread across the golden-haired boy's face. Koji clenched his fingers around the top card of his deck, blood pounding in his ears. "My turn! I... Draw!" Koji said, holding the top card of his deck in his outstretched hand. He checked the card and smiled. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Re-Galaxy! With this, I can Summon Galaxy-Eyes from the Graveyard with half his original Attack and equip him with Re-Galaxy!" Galaxy-Eyes returned with a roar to the field.

[Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon - Level 8 - -ATK: 3000-1500- DEF: 2500]

"When this Galaxy-Eyes is used for an Xyz Summon, I can treat Re-Galaxy as a monster of the same Level as that monster! Using my Level 8 Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Re-Galaxy, I construct the Overlay Network! Appear, Ultimate Galactic Dragon, Numbers 62! Darkness and light wandering the universe. Sorrowful dragon who sleeps in the interstice! Its powers of creation open the door to Truth! Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!" Prime Photon coalesced out of blue light, then roared into the sky.

[Numbers 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon - Rank 8 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 3500]

Koji smirked. "Guess that puts me in control of the board, huh, Hitomi?"

Hitomi spat through her teeth.

"Now, fall! **Enternity Photon… Stream**!" Galaxy-Eyes screamed out a massive azure burst at Cyber Dragon. "I activate Numbers 62's monster effect! With this, by detaching one Overlay Unit from Prime, I can increase his attack points by 200 for each Rank of any Xyz monsters on the field! **Photon… Eternity**!" One of Prime's Overlay Units flew into the azure light streaming from its mouth, and the blast grew by almost half.

"I activate Cyber Network! Construct!" Hitomi yelled, "I banish Cyber Dragon Ein! With Ein, I can target a Cyber Dragon on the field, and that dragon can't be destroyed by battle once this turn! Plus, any damage I take through that Cyber this turn is halved! **Cyber Ein Armor**!" A forest green barrier materialized in front of Cyber Dragon, throwing most of Numbers 62's blast away from both the dragon and Hitomi. The barrier started to crack, and Cyber Dragon slithered away. Ein's barrier shattered, and Hitomi was catapulted down the hall in a cloud of smoke. She screamed, her Life Points dropping by over half. Shakily, Hitomi returned to her feet, and Cyber Dragon moved next to her. She wiped a dribble of blood from her mouth with the back of her right hand. Her eyes screamed murder.

Koji smirked. "I'm done."

* * *

"Go, Red Demon's Dragon!" Adam yelled. "Scrap his little toy jet! **Absolute Power-Force**!" Red Demon's raised its mighty fist, engulfed in blackened fire, and took aim at Jetroid.

"Joke's on you, punk! Jetroid's got a special ability! When he's attacked, I can play Traps from my hand! Like this one! Supercharge!" Yelled Eiji, holding out a Trap card. The blue-haired boy threw the card into his Duel Disk, then continued, "With Supercharge, when a Roid is attacked, I get to draw 2 cards! Thanks for the Pot of Greed, loser!"

"The worst players talk the most crap, Eiji." Adam responded, "I'll play two face-downs and pass the puck."

Adam Atlas

Hand: 1

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Red Demon's Dragon)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Eiji Marufuji

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: 0

"I draw!" Eiji said. He checked the card he drew, and a smirk spread across his face. "Game's over... I just won. I activate... Extra Fusion!" Eiji yelled, throwing the card into his Disk.

"Am I supposed to be scared of that for some reason?" Adam replied, "doesn't look like much to me."

"It'll look a lot scarier once I trigger its effect. With it, I can select a Fusion monster in my Extra Deck, then target appropriate materials in my Deck and a Fusion spell, then Summon the targeted monster for the same number of turns as I revealed materials! I target 5 "Roid" monsters in my deck, plus Fusion Conscription!" Eiji explained. His Extra Deck dispensed a card, and he held it to the heavens. "God of destruction, condense the power raging from your fist! Great sage, chill the light illuminating your mind! Guided by the light of the factory, the hum of machines, combine your strengths to create a perfect being! Appear, Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine!"

The ground behind Eiji Marufuji shattered like glass and fell in on itself. From within the hole rose a scarlet and silver monster with a single glowing yellow orb in the center of what looked to be a head. It roared, the sound reverberating through the hallway.

[Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine - Level 12 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 4000]

Adam set his feet. "That's your ace? I hope you're about to tell me otherwise 'cause this is gonna be awfully boring if it is."

Eiji's featured twisted into a sick smile. "For you, this machine will be sufficient."

Red Demon's roared in challenge. Beneath it, the dragon's tamer smirked at his opponent. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

* * *

Kozuki Akira

Hand: 2

Life Points: 2500

Monsters: 1 (Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Revolving Switchyard)

-VS-

Alexander O'Brien

Hand: 4

Life Points: 3500

Monsters: 0

Spell/Traps: 3 (Blaze Cannon Magazine, Firewall, Flame Wall)

Active Effects: 0

Akira could smell singed hair. This guy… she bared her teeth. He was good. She looked up at Gustav Max. This thing had gotten her through dozens of perilous situations, but right now it couldn't attack or activate its effect if it wanted to. There had to be a workaround...

"Really? This is all you've got?" Alexander questioned. "How sad. I was hoping for a challenge, at least."

"You'll get a lot more than that, you jerk!"

"Whatever. I draw." Alexander replied, "as upkeep for Firewall, I pay 500 Life Points." Flames circled his feet for a moment before dying again. "It's about time I brought this battle to a close."

Akira's eyes widened. This guy was playing a stall burn deck! He couldn't end a game in an instant if he wanted to!

"I set one card face-down. Next, by sending the now three Trap cards I now control to my Graveyard," at this, the facedown, plus Firewall and Magazine, disappeared, "to Summon this." He held up a card, then chanted, "All things are born from fire, and so all things must die by fire. Become the incarnation of the flames' hunger! Come, Uria, Lord of Divine Flames!" He slammed the card down on his fiery holographic Disk. Behind the huge, dark-skinned man, a gout of fire erupted from the floor. A dragon's roar split the flames, revealing a huge, scarlet serpent with clawed bat's wings. The pseudo-dragon roared again, this one aimed directly at Gustav.

[Uria, Lord of Divine Flames - Level 10 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 0]

"Uria gains 1000 attack points for each Trap in my Graveyard! Right now, that number is 4! Take down Gustav Max! **Hyper Blaze**!" Uria roared, then threw a blast of flame straight into Gustav Max's cannon. The tank exploded, tossing Akira like a rag doll. She tucked, rolled, and came up standing. She had a couple of cuts and sensed nasty bruises, but she wasn't passed out or worse. _That much force for 800 damage… This thing's gonna be tough._

* * *

Narumi Lisanna

Hand: 4

Life Points: 2800

Monsters: 2 (Angel of Zera, The Agent of Mystery - Earth)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Sanctuary in the Sky)

-VS-

Emilia Phoenix

Hand: 3

Life Points: 3800

Monsters: 1 (Dragoon D-END)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

Lisanna hissed in annoyance. She'd just managed to take down Dragoon D-END, at great personal expense, and she pulls it right back again? She was pretty good - but not as good as Lisanna.

"Upon entering my Main Phase, I active the effect of Dragoon D-END!" Emilia called out. Lisanna gasped. That thing had ANOTHER effect on top of being basically unkillable? "At the cost of my Battle Phase this turn, I can destroy one of your monsters and deal damage to you equal to its attack on the field! **Ultimate D. Burn**!" Emilia yelled. Dragoon roared, then pointed the dragon mouth on its left arm at Angel of Zera. A blast of fire shot from the mouth, consuming the noble warrior. Lisanna could hear Emilia's sick laughter from the other side of the flame wall. When the fire died down, she stood just in front of smoking stone, but she herself was unharmed. Her skirt settled back around her jeans and boots.

"That's it? For your Battle Phase?" Lisanna mocked, smirking. "I activate the Trap Angel's Divine Wing! By banishing a Fairy-type monster on my field, I can reduce effect damage from one instance to zero! I banish the target, Angel of Zera, which means your attempt all but fizzles out of existence! The only difference is you still can't attack!"

Emilia spat through her teeth. "I end my turn!

Narumi Lisanna

Hand: 4

Life Points: 2800

Monsters: 1 (The Agent of Mystery - Earth)

Spell/Traps: 0

Active Effects: 1 (Sanctuary in the Sky)

-VS-

Emilia Phoenix

Hand: 3

Life Points: 3800

Monsters: 1 (Dragoon D-END)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"I draw!" Lisanna yelled. "At the Standby Phase, Angel of Zera's ability activates, resurrecting him since he was banished this turn! **Zera Resurrection**!" Zera reappeared in a pillar of light.

[Warrior of Zera - Level 8 - -ATK: 2800- DEF: 2300]

"Now then, I-" Lisanna began. She stopped as a boy in a white sleeveless hoodie ran across the space the Duel was taking place in. Realizing the hooded boy was trying to get past her, she moved to block him against the wall. Without so much as pausing, the boy used her shoulder as a springboard to run up the wall next to her.

As he flew past, she caught a glimpse of his face, a few words. "Would you let me by, milady?"

Lisanna froze. His eyes were a little different, and his hair was bleached, but that move, that face, that teasing smirk, those words… could only belong to one person.

* * *

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 4000

Monsters: 1 (Special Numbers 39: Lightning Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Onomatopia, 2 Kattobingu Counters)

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 2700

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"There goes your last hope, Tsukumo Yuukine! Time to lose!" Kirai yelled, "I draw! Dark Neos! Gain the effects and power of Steam Healer! **Anti-Neos Absorbtion**!" Kirai threw back his head and laughed, his features contorting into the perfect image of a power-drunk monster. Steam Healer rose from Dark Neos' shadow, bound as though it were about to be crucified. Dark Neos turned to Steam Healer, and Yuukine turned away and closed his eyes, as though he could reject what was about to happen.

He still heard the monster's screams.

"Eat this, Xyz scum! Dark Neos! **Dark Neos Force**!" Screamed Kirai. Dark Neos flipped its cape back with a flourish, then raised its left fist and jumped towards Lightning Hope. The monsters clashed for a brief moment, but Neos blasted straight through Hope, the shockwave throwing Yuukine off his feet and sending him sliding across the wet surface of the gem.

"When Steam Healer destroys a monster in battle, I can recover Life Points equal to that monster's attack points, and since Neos absorbed Steam Healer, I am allowed to use this effect! **Dark Steam Revival**!"

Yuukine stood shakily back up. His eyes screamed murder. "It's not… over yet…"

"I disagree! Your last hope," Kirai gave a lopsided smile and pointed at the Quasar/Crimson Dragon union, "is right there, and totally useless!"

Lightning crashed behind him, as though to emphasize his point. He was right, far as Yuukine figured. He couldn't win by himself.

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized."

"Last hope, you say? I disagree." Came a strange voice. Wait, not strange. It sounded… familiar, somehow. Yuukine couldn't quite place it.

"Who's there? I want no one to interfere with our battle!" Kirai screamed.

"Unfortunately, that's not up to you. You're part of a battle royale, which means I can jump in at any time."

Yuukine sat up and finally saw the new guy. His clothes were all immaculate black and white, up to a sleeveless, long, white hooded coat flapping in the wind that shouldn't have been able to keep its color. The boy's hair was alternating black and white, and his eyes were piercing silver, but there was no mistaking the face.

Fudo Hiroka had come to save him.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Hope you're liking the fic so far. Uhm, I'm gonna start doing something new in the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking about doing 'extra' chapters, oneshots to tell you all more about the characters, sometime in the middle of the week. So, if you all could tell me what you think of that idea, that'd be cool. But uh, yeah, that's about it. Thanks for reading, and please favorite and review if you like the story!**


	8. Prologue 8: The Powers of Light and Dark

Prologue Part 8: Hiroka's Return! The Power of Light and Darkness?

" **Dark Neos Force**!" Kirai yelled. Dark Neos blasted a hole through Lightning Hope, throwing Yuukine off his feet and sending him sliding across the wet surface of the gem.

"It's not... Over yet..." Yuukine struggled up to a kneeling position.

"Really? We both know you can't beat me on your own. And that thing," Kirai prattled, pointing at the Quasar/Crimson Dragon spectator, "was your last hope!"

"I wonder about that!"

"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized."

Lightning crashed behind the newcomer.

Kirai turned to the new player. All Yuukine could see was his boots, but he didn't recognize them. His voice, though... "I told no one to interfere! Leave us!"

"Sorry, but this is a battle royale! Which means I can jump in whenever I feel like it!" By the time the new guy had finished talking, Yuukine had struggled to his feet. That guy... His hair had changed, been bleached every other lock, and his eyes were now a piercing silver, but he still looked just the same.

Fudo Hiroka had returned.

"I draw!" He yelled, "first off, I Summon Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing!" Hiroka Summoned his monster, and a small black sphere appeared before him. The sphere shattered into a translucent black dragon with spiky black hair and purple body armor.

[Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing - Level 2 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 2000]

Zero Attack.

What a surprise.

Yuukine was getting really tired of this.

"Next, I trigger Jiaotu's effect! By discarding two Yang Zing monsters in my hand, I can summon an equal number of cards in the archetype from my Deck, one with 0 attack, the other with 0 defense! **Dark Ascension**!" Hiroka yelled. Jiaotu roared, a squeaky one but still a roar, and black disks appeared on the top of the gem to either side of it. "From my Deck, I summon Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing, and Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing! Arise, my monsters!" Hiroka yelled, pointing to the sky. Out of the disks rose a small blue turtle/dragon and a six-limbed, more beastial dragon.

[Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing - Level 2 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 2000]

[Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing - Level 5 - -ATK: 2200- DEF: 0]

"What do you expect to do with pathetic creatures such as those? You stepped into the path of a god, boy, and you expect to fight with those half-breeds?"

Hiroka smirked. "I activate Dark Wave!" He called, placing a card into his Duel Disk, "with this, I can target a non-Tuner on the field and treat its level as negative if it's used for a Dark Synchro Summon!"

For a… what?

Taotie screeched as 5 white lights appeared within his translucent body. The 5 lights, one by one, changed to black.

"I Dark Tune Level negative Five Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing, to Level 2 Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing!" Hiroka called out. He glared at the Crimson Dragon. "This is my answer." Starting at a cowlick at the back of his head from which the streaks in his hair seemed to originate from, the white streaks began to turn black, except for one in the middle of his bangs. "Endless black at the end of the universe, consume all of this world's light! Dark Synchro Summon, Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing!" As he finished his chanting, every lock save that center one turned pitch-black.

Across the bottom of Yuukine's D-Gazer, in black text, "-5 stars - 2 stars = -7 stars" was displayed. A pillar of darkness expanded from within Jiaotu's two black Tuner rings. When the black aura faded, a huge, 4-legged black Chinese dragon stood next to Bixi, its batlike wings spread wide. The dragon roared in challenge at Dark Neos, the hair across its head and neck swaying in the wind.

[Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing - Level 7 - -ATK: 2600- DEF: 2100]

"You expect to challenge Dark Neos with a dragon like THAT? As if that'll happen!" Yuukine asked. He threw his head back and laughed.

"Yazi's monster effect, activate! With this, I can target a Yang Zing I control and one card an opponent controls, and destroy both targets! Target Bixi and his Neos! **Hell Equivalence**!" Hiroka yelled. Yazi's right wing slashed through Hiroka's blue turtle dragon. Yazi stomped its forepaws into the ground. From in front of the dragon, a blast of water launched at Neos, shattering the warrior into motes and covering Kirai's field in steam. "At this timing, Bixi's monster effect activates! With this, when Bixi is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Summon another Yang Zing from my Deck in Attack Position! **Element Transmutation**!" Hiroka continued. From Bixi's former place on the field, a water drop bubbled up from the floor and splattered on the ground. The water erupted into flames and a new, scarlet Chinese dragon appeared next to Yazi.

[Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing - Level 4 - -ATK: 1900- DEF: 0]

"I set two cards face down!" Hiroka continued, throwing the cards down in front of him.

A sound like glass shattering turned Yuukine's attention back to Kirai's field. Black cape fluttering in the wind, Dark Neos stood in his original place. All around the monster, shards of glass glimmered as they fell to the ground. Neos had broken something with its bare hand. On Kirai's board, a Trap glowed.

Hero Mirage. "I activated my Trap just after your destruction effect resolved, Summoning back my monster from the Graveyard!" Kirai said. "You didn't think it'd be that easy to take on my Dark Neos, did you?"

Hiroka smirked. "Of course not. I was watching, I figured you'd have a plan. I'm testing the card's limits. I end my turn!"

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 3000

Monsters: 1 (Special Numbers 39: Lightning Hope)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Hope City -Onomatopia-, 2 Kattobingu Counters)

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 0

Monsters: 2 (Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing, Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 5200

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"I draw!" Yuukine announced. He assessed his options. He had the counters on Onomatopia to Summon one monster from his Deck. But that wouldn't get him Hope, which is what he needed. He could Summon Sky Pegasus this turn, but this guy had too many Life Points for the card to be of much use. He checked his facedown card.

Xyz Revenge Shuffle.

Yuukine had a comeback. If he could get to Gagaga Force, he could win this thing in an instant with Hope Ray Victory.

"I activate Gagaga Emergency Network! With this, I can Summon a Gagaga from my Deck! Come on out, Gagaga Magician!" Yuukine explained. Gagaga Magician arrived on the field in a flash of light.

[Gagaga Magician - Level 4 - -ATK: 1500- DEF: 1000]

"Next up, from my hand, I play Gagaga X Gagaga!" Yuukine continued, "with this, I can select a Gagaga I control, then use this card as its perfect clone for an Xyz Summon! And, since it's technically not a Special Summon, it dodges the penalty for Emergency Network! I, using the Level 4 monsters Gagaga Magician and Gagaga X Gagaga, construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Awaken, Numbers 44! Oh, eternal laborer, now rise from your ancient sleep, and become the wings that soar through the sky! Descend, White Sky Horse - Sky Pegasus!" Yuukine chanted. Sky Pegasus appeared before him, whinnying with its great white wings spread wide.

[Numbers 44: White Sky Horse - Sky Pegasus - Rank 4 - -ATK: 1800- DEF: 1000]

"How do you like that?" Yuukine challenged, swiping an arm across his body.

Kirai shrugged. "It's trash." he said shortly.

"You won't be thinkin' that for long! I play Pegasus' monster effect! With it, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can select a monster on the field to destroy! However, the card's owner can protect his card by payin' 500 Life Points! I'll target Dark Neos for destruction! **Righteous Sacrifice**!"

"500 Life Points to keep my monster? I'll take that deal." Kirai shot back. He glowed red for a moment as the cost was paid.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you off the hook that easily. See, when a player pays Life Points in Pegasus' presence, they also have to take damage equal to the Life Points that they paid originally! **Holy Lightning Horn**!" Yuukine yelled. Sky Pegasus whinnied again, then lightning lanced from the horn on its nose. Kirai was engulfed in the blast of light and took another 500 damage. Kirai hissed in pain.

"Not a bad effect. Maybe that card is worth its existence. Still, you have to protect it." Kirai returned.

"I can't get over your monster, so my turn's over." Yuukine replied.

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 3000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 44: Sky Pegasus)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Hope City -Onomatopia, 2 Kattobingu Counters)

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 0

Monsters: 2 (Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing, Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 5200

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"My turn, then!" Kirai yelled. He drew his card. "I activate Hope of Fifth! With this Spell, I can return 5 E•HERO monsters from my Graveyard to my Deck, then draw an additional two! I return E•HEROs Shadow Mist, Neos, Wild Jaggyman, Phoenixguy, and Steam Healer to the Deck!" Kirai announced, drawing.

That Deck was pretty autopilot, but Yuukine respected his decisiveness anyway.

Kirai checked his new cards, placed one face-down, and then declared, "I send Elemental HERO Plasma Viceman to the Graveyard! **Anti-Neos Absorption**!" Kirai declared. Neos absorbed yet another hero from Kirai's Extra Deck. The black-clad warrior stretched its hand to the sky. Lightning arced into the ebon-clad warrior's palm, throwing the Duelist's features into high relief. Thunder crashed around them. Yuukine started to realize this was a pretty stupid place to be.

"I activate Plasma Viceman's monster effect! With this, by ditching a card from my hand, I can obliterate a monster on the field! Destroy Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing! **Plasma Shadow Cannon**!" Kirai yelled. Dark Neos raised its left arm, displacing its cape. The spikes on its elbow had expanded into a large gauntlet, not unlike Viceman's own armguards. Lightning crackled between Neos' fingers. The warrior pointed its hand, palm out, and a burst of lightning shot from it, crashing into and obliterating Yazi.

The explosion nearly blew Yuukine off of his feet and created a huge dust cloud. When the dust settled, Hiroka controlled a small, gold and white Chinese dragon, in addition to his fiery wyrm from before. "All Yang Zing monsters can Summon comrades!" Hiroka declared, "not just the small ones! They are an impenetrable monster wall!"

[Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing - Level 1 - ATK: 0 -DEF: 0-]

Impressive, Yuukine thought, he can protect himself from all threats by simply Summoning additional cards from his Deck. That's an awesome mechanic.

"Then I'll destroy your friend and deal with you later! Dark Neos! **Dark Neos Force**!" Kirai yelled. Neos lunged at Sky Pegasus. Yuukine flipped a Trap card, and Sky Pegasus faded just before Dark Neos struck. Kirai spat through his teeth.

"I activated the Trap Xyz Revenge Shuffle! With this Trap, I can bounce an Xyz monster that gets attacked, then Summon one from my Graveyard, usin' this card as Xyz Material! Come on back, Numbers 39! King of Wishes, Hope!" Yuukine announced. Hope rose from the floor, spinning to face Kirai as he did so.

[Numbers 39 - King of Wishes, Hope - Rank 4 - -ATK: 2500- DEF: 2000]

"As Hope was Special Summoned, Hope City - Onomatopia gains a Kattobingu Counter! With Xyz Revenge Shuffle, however, my opponent is still allowed to attack." Yuukine finished.

"In that case, I'll attack Hope!" Kirai called. Dark Neos struck the ground with his large gauntlet. The floor cracked, and black lightning shot from Neos' hand, arcing along the ground towards the white and gold warrior. He's trying to get me to use Moon Barrier, Yuukine realized, he wants it off of Hope for something. And I have no choice but to play into his hands.

"I'm activatin' Hope's ability! By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can negate an attack! **Moon Barrier**!" Yuukine returned. Hope roared and spun in the air, turning its wings into a shield to block Neos' lightning. The bolts bounced harmlessly from the shield. Kirai smirked.

"I play two cards face-down, ending my turn!" Kirai announced.

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 3000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes - Hope)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Hope City -Onomatopia, 3 Kattobingu Counters)

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 0

Monsters: 2 (Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing, Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 5200

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

"My turn!" Hiroka announced, "draw!" Hiroka checked his card, seeming to like it. "I activate Yang Zing Path! With this, I can take three Yang Zings in my Graveyard, put them into the Deck, and draw two more!" Hiroka called, "I target Bixi, Jiaotu, and Pulao!" Hiroka held out the three cards and shuffled them into his Deck, then drew two more. Hiroka spat through his teeth, then said, "I switch Suanni to defense mode. That's all."

Tsukumo Yuukine

Hand: 5

Life Points: 3000

Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes - Hope)

Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)

Active Effects: 1 (Hope City -Onomatopia, 3 Kattobingu Counters)

Fudo Hiroka

Hand: 2

Monsters: 2 (Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing, Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing)

Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

-VS-

Yuuki Kirai

Hand: 2

Life Points: 5200

Monsters: 1 (Anti-HERO Dark Neos)

Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)

Active Effects: 0

Damn that Hiroka. He's inexperienced with that deck and overextended. "Draw!" Yuukine yelled. Or maybe he was just used to having more luck than he did. Whatever it was, Yuukine would have to carry the team until Hiroka got back in gear. He checked the card he had drawn, and cracked a smile.

"I activate Rank-Up-Magic Gagaga Chaos Force! With this card, I can Rank Up and Chaosify the King of Wishes! Using Hope, I reconstruct the Overlay Network! Appear, Chaos Numbers 39! Seize the victory shining in the future, the overlapping thoughts and connected hearts that will change the world! King of Wishes - Hope Ray Victory!" Yuukine chanted. Hope flew into the Overlay Network, and re-emerged clad in white armor with scarlet highlights. Yuukine's favorite monster, and his win condition.

[Chaos Numbers 39: King of Wishes - Hope Ray Victory - Rank 5 - -ATK: 2800- DEF: 2500]

"Onomatopia gains a Kattobingu Counter! Now, I activate Hope Ray Victory's effect! When I declare an attack, Hope Ray Victory gains attack equal to the attack points of the monster it battles! **Victory Charge**!" Yuukine yelled. Hope Ray Victory glowed with golden light.

"Go! Hope Ray Victory! **Hope Sword Double Victory Slash**!" Yuukine declared, pointing at Dark Neos. Neos hunkered down, ready to take an attack.

" **Anti-Neos Absorption**!" Kirai retorted, "targeting Elemental HERO Wild Jaggyman!" Kirai yelled. Hope Ray Victory's attack plowed straight through the boosted-to-hell Dark Neos, throwing Kirai to the ground. He slid across the gem they stood upon, Life Points cut to almost nothing.

"A battle can't be won... Without sacrifice." Kirai muttered as he stood up. He spat blood from his lips, "even against weaklings like you. Trap! Hero's Tragic Demise! With this, when a HERO monster is destroyed by battle, I can deal all opponents damage equal to the combined attack of every monster destroyed during that turn! Meaning, you'll both take damage equal to Dark Neos' 4100 Attack points at his time of death!" Kirai declared. He cackled like a madman.

Yuukine bowed his head. "Turn... End." After all his trash talk, he'd lost completely. Fire erupted around Kirai's Hero's Tragic Demise, then washed over them both. Both Duelists were picked up and thrown like rag dolls, and all Yuukine knew was blackness.

Hiroka struggled to his knees. That last Trap had hit him hard, but his uselessness had hit him harder. Kirai stepped up in front of him, once again wrapped in his black cloak. Hiroka looked up at him. "So? Just get it over with."

Kirai looked down at him, then spat next to his hand. "Weaklings with such pathetic Duelist's souls as you two aren't worthy of the Professor's work, nor are you worthy to even collect dust in my card collection."

Hiroka grimaced, tried to rise, but coughed up blood and sank to his knees again.

An alert sounded from Kirai's Duel Disk. "Besides," he continued, "I have to go anyway. Try not to get any blood on that jacket. You'll stain it."

Hiroka crumpled to the floor.

Useless. Trash.


End file.
